Foreign Affairs
by The Dark Knight's Princess
Summary: Alexandra Cabot has taken on probably what is considered to be the most stressful job in the United States and she constantly tells herself that she's happy with that. But what happens when her job becomes to stressful for her wife and children and she finds herself having to reevaluate the decisions she must make not only as a leader but as a wife and mother as well? AU! AC!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Not quite sure where this came from. I dreamt this up and thought that it would be kinda fun to play with. When I'm nervous about things I tend to come up with a boatload of ideas, and I am EXTREMELY nervous about this vacation. Anyway, I don't know how long this will be exactly as I never do, but enjoy **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any unoriginal character to this plot line. **

Casey Cabot nee Novak sighs quietly to herself as she stares out the window of the limousine as it continues on its slow crawl through the wet streets of Washington D.C. She shifts a tad bit uncomfortably against the plush leather seats of the car for she hasn't gotten used to them and she still isn't sure if she will ever be used to them. Then again, there's just something about riding around in the limousine in general is something that just bothers her.

"Mommy?" a tiny voice speaks from the other side of the car.

"Yes sweetie?" Casey responds, offering her six year old daughter a smile.

"Do you think that Momma will take me to feed the ducks today?" the six year old asks eagerly, her eyes wide with hopefulness and enthusiasm. "She promised she would."

At this, Casey's heart clenches and she briefly bites down on her lower lip. "I'm not sure Aubrey; you know Momma is very busy."

Aubrey pouts and tightly folds her arms across her chest before lightly kicking the seat of the car. "But she promised…" she whines, alerting her mother to the fact that she is on the verge of a fit.

"I know sweetheart, but Momma just has a lot of work to do. But I'm sure if you ask nicely, she'll be able to make time to take you to feed the ducks and if not, I can take you to feed the ducks. It'll be you, me, and Megan. How does that sound?

"I guess that sounds okay…but Momma said she would take me because I really wanted to go with her. Can I ask her when we get home?

"Of course."

After falling into a comfortable silence with her youngest daughter, Casey goes back to staring out the window of the car. Her mind goes back to an hour or so before to where she and Aubrey had just left a local library where she was reading to a group of children and talking to them about the importance of education. Yet another social appearance she had to make, but if it's for the children, she most definitely doesn't mind in the slightest.

The limo eventually slows to a stop in the circular styled driveway and Casey finds herself sighing once more as the door is opened for her and she is greeted with a plethora of men in black suits, one of which who is holding an umbrella for her.

"You know, I've told you guys before, I'm more than capable of holding an umbrella myself." She jokes lightly as she takes Aubrey's hand and they are guided inside the large, manor of a house that they call a home.

Once inside, Aubrey immediately bursts into a fit of squeals as she spots her favorite person and she takes off across the polished floors. "Abbie!"

"Hey there Roadrunner." Abbie Carmichael, a tall, southern accented brunette responds as she picks the six year old up and spins her around. "Did you have fun at the library today with your Mom?"

"Uh huh! I even made a friend today! Her name was Lizabeth and we even got to make best friend bracelets after Mommy read us a story." Aubrey pauses as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a beaded bracelet. "Look, I made one for you!"

Abbie grins broadly and accepts the gift from her pint sized friend. "Well that's very sweet of you Aubrey."

"You have to wear it all the time okay? Promise?"

"I promise."

"Pinkie promise?" Aubrey presses on, raising her eyebrows as she holds out her pinkie finger.

"Pinkie promise." Abbie replies with a chuckle as she links her pinkie with Aubrey's and they shake on it before she puts the six year old back down on the floor.

Aubrey looks up with expectancy as she clasps her hands behind her back. "Abbie, can I see it again?"

Abbie pretends to think for a moment as she taps her finger against her chin. "I don't know. Have you been a good girl?"

"Oh yes, I've been very good! Pleeeeeease? Pretty please?" the tiny blonde begs as she clasps her hands together once again.

"Oh alright." Abbie relents as she removes Aubrey's desired object from her belt. She watches in amusement as she hands over her badge, drawing an 'ooo' from excitement from the six year old as she runs her fingers over the gold plated badge.

With another chuckle, Abbie shakes her head as she walks over to Casey who had been standing off to the side, watching the pair with amusement etched across her face. "She really likes playing with that."

"You spoil her." Casey responds as she shakes her head. "You know, she really does idolize you Abbie. You're her role model."

"Well, you couldn't have asked for a better role model for your kid then huh?" the brunette responds with a smirk.

Casey rolls her eyes and shakes her head once again. "Yeah. If my six year old grows up and tells me she's joining the secret service for a living then I'll know exactly who to blame."

Abbie grins at this and glances back over at Aubrey who is still transfixed by her special agent badge. "Then that's a blame that I will gladly take." She states proudly, puffing out her chest before turning seriously. "Did you enjoy the event at the library?"

"I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, to be completely honest. It's just always so nice to be able to give back to the kids like that. They all got to listen to a few stories and do arts and crafts before they all got to select a free book. It was such a cute little function and I'm glad I could be part of it."

"Look at you, making dreams come true for little kids. I know as a little kid I would've loved to have my picture with the First Lady."

Casey rolls her eyes and gives her friend a light smack to the shoulder for her sense of humor. "Speaking of which, have you seen her at all today?" she asks, not really needing to go into specifics because she knows Abbie knows exactly who she's talking about.

A brief look crosses Abbie's face for a moment before she gives an honest shrug. "I'm not entirely sure, but I'm willing to put my money in and say that she hasn't been out of her office at all."

"You know there are often times that I forget what my own wife looks like." Casey responds with a heavy sigh as she shakes her head and glances over at her daughter once again. "She promised that she would take Aubrey to feed the ducks today. I just hate it whenever she breaks a promise like that. Take us there?"

"You bet." Abbie responds with a nod as she spins on her heel and starts off down the hall, picking Aubrey up and placing her on her shoulders in the process. "C'mon Roadrunner, let's go see your Momma."

Meanwhile, President Alexandra Cabot is hunched over her desk as her eyes rapidly fly over the words on the stacks of papers that litter her desk. She sighs quietly as she reaches the bottom of another page before she scribbles her signature on it and moves onto the next once.

In all honesty, she can't exactly remember the last time that she has even looked at a clock for the time, let alone even looked up at all for anything. She briefly sneaks a glance at her watch before turning back to her papers, not really bothering to even comprehend the time at all.

"Momma!"

The silence in her office is broken by a squeal and Alex drops her pen only to be met with the pitter-patter of her daughter's feet as they run over to her desk. She manages a tired grin as she moves her chair away from her desk and allows for the six year old to climb into her lap. "Hi sweetheart. Did you have fun with Mommy today?"

"Yes Ma'am, we got to read books and do crafts!" Aubrey exclaims before she remembers her set task at hand and her face turns serious. "Momma, will you be able to take me to feed the ducks today?"

Alex's heart stops for a brief moment before she closes her eyes and sighs quietly. Was that supposed to be today? She could've sworn she said Friday, but wait…what day is it? "Aubrey, I would really like to take you to feed the ducks today, but I can't sweetie. I have a lot of work I need to do." she explains softly as she glances at her wife. "Maybe you can go with Mommy instead?"

"But Momma, I wanna go with you! You promised!" Aubrey replies with sad, wide blue eyes as they begin to become damp with tears.

"I know honey, but I have to work…maybe some other time?"

"That's what you said the last time." Aubrey sniffles as she wiggles from her mother's grip and climbs down from her lap before running out of the office.

Casey's heart clenches as she watches Aubrey run out and she can hear the tears once she gets into the hallway. A small frown crosses her features before she turns back to her wife. "Seriously Alex? How many times are you going to break that promise to her?"

The blonde drags her fingers through her hair as she stands up and walks around to the front of her desk before leaning against the edge. "I don't have time Casey, you know that! Why can't you take her to feed the ducks?"

"Because she wants you to take her, that's why. You are her mother and she wants to spend time with you and the same goes for Megan too. Why can't you seem to make time for your kids? It's like you don't even spend time with them anymore."

"I spend time with them when I have time to spend with them Casey. It's not like I've been neglecting them."

"Sure seems like it." The redhead responds as she folds her arms and shakes her head, her voice going down to a calm sadness. "You know, you haven't come to bed in a week. I miss you…"

Alex sighs quietly and wraps her arms around her wife's waist before pulling her in closer. "I know…I just have so much work to do Baby, I don't have time for anything else."

"I know…you can't even spare a minute for your wife and kids…"

"Casey, don't talk like that."

"Talk like what? Don't talk like it's true!?" Casey exclaims as she rips herself from her wife's embrace and begins to pace. "I'm so tired of this! It's like you aren't even married to me sometimes because you're so focused on your work. It makes you an entirely different person."

Alex places her hands on her hips as she clicks her tongue and resists the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm the president Casey. It's not one of those things where I can just take off whenever for however long I want. What am I supposed to do?"

Casey scoffs before throwing her hands up, displaying her frustrations. "A couple of vacation days would be nice, yes! At least take a day where you can take your daughter to the damn pond to feed the ducks like you promised her you would! You know it breaks their hearts whenever you go back on a promise you made to them? Breaking a promise to me, I can deal with, but when you're constantly breaking a promise to your kids…" Casey trails off with a sad shake of her head before she spins on her heel and leaves Alex alone with her thoughts.

Alex sighs heavily and contemplates going after her wife before she remembers the stack of papers dominating her desk. She sighs once again and sits down before going back to signing, deeming that she will fix whatever is wrong with Casey later.

**At first I had written this for it to be the other way around, you know, Alex being the First Lady and so on and so forth but I thought this would be more fun. Anyhow, lemme know what you think! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ok, I know I'm supposed to be on vacation…but some things came up and I had a little bit on my mind so I decided to write. I've manipulated times and stuff in this because well hey, it's a story and I can do that, LOL, anyhow, enjoy you guys!**

"Nat, make sure that you've double checked the reservation on my hotel for next Saturday." Alex says as she continues to pace back and forth in her office with her hands clasped behind her back.

Natalie Webber, a young blonde in her late twenties who is Alex's personal assistant, blinks rapidly for a moment before briskly nodding her head. "Oh yes Ma'am, I'll be sure to get on that right away." She responds as her fingers fly rapidly over the keys of the laptop resting on her lap.

"Great." Alex mumbles, stopping abruptly as she begins patting her pockets on her person. "Where's my cellphone…"

"Right here Ma'am," Natalie responds once again as she holds up the object in question.

"Okay. Will you send a message to my wife telling her that I won't be able to make it to dinner today? Something's come up."

At this, Natalie pauses and looks up at the taller woman, blinking rapidly in confusion. "Um, don't you think it would be best if you had dinner with your family for once?"

Alex freezes and slowly turns before looking at her assistant with a rather incredulous look. "I beg your pardon?"

Natalie bites down nervously on her lower lip for a moment before she takes a deep breath, just barely digging up enough courage to continue on. "With all due respect Ma'am, I just think that whatever it is that has come up can wait a few hours or so while you spend time with your family. You often spend days in your office and when you're not, you're taking a trip of some sorts. I just believe that family is important and well…I think that you should spend time with them…at least just for a little bit."

"Who are you to tell me that I don't spend enough time with my family?! I spend plenty of time with them!"

"I-I didn't mean anything by what I said, Ma'am, I wasn't implying anything at all, honest, I wasn't. I was just…providing a hypothetic suggestion. At least if you're not going to join your family for dinner this evening, I think that you at least should tell your wife personally instead of just sending her a message. If you want, I will even go get her for you so you won't have to leave Ma'am…"

Alex's silence in responds reigns heavily in the room as she clasps her hands behind her back once more and resumes her pacing, albeit slower this time as if she is stalking her prey. "Who am I, Natalie?"

"I-I'm sorry?" the younger woman responds with confusion evident on her face. "I'm afraid I don't understand the question…"

"It's not a trick question. It's very straight forward if you ask me. So I'll ask again; who am I, Natalie?"

"You're the president Ma'am."

"The president of what, Natalie…"

"The President of the United States…"

"The President of the United States…Excellent." Alex repeats as her pacing continues. "I have made history, Natalie. Not only am I the youngest politician to ever be elected to office, I am also the first female president to ever be elected to office, and by a miracle, I was elected to office and I am a Lesbian. All of that has never happened before Natalie, and it will go down in history. What does any of that mean to you Natalie?"

Natalie blinks rapidly, not sure if she is allowed to answer or not. When she sees Alex stop and look at her with an expectant gaze, she snaps to attention realizing that she was supposed to answer. "Oh, okay. Um, it means a lot to me, Ma'am, honestly it does. I've been more than honored to be serving as your personal assistant and I admire you with the utmost amount of respect. I'm sorry if I have spoken out of term on anything. I promise that it was not my sole intention to bring any type of offense to you or your family. I deeply apologize."

Alex's icy expression relaxes before she sighs and retreats to her desk. "I didn't mean to reprimand you so harshly. I'm just really stressed at the moment. I have gotten a total of five hours of sleep in the past seven days and I have had this terrible knot in my shoulders for as long as I can remember." She sighs heavily before relaxing further into her chair. "I don't suppose you could do anything about that, huh?"

"Well, I mean, I could ask around and produce some sleep aids if you're having trouble sleeping…" Natalie responds awkwardly.

"Excellent, now come here. See if you can work these knots out of my shoulders." Alex states, chuckling when she sees the perplexed look on her assistant's face. "Oh come now, I don't bite."

The younger blonde nods her head before she walks over to the desk at a turtle pace. She hesitates for a brief moment before she reaches down and begins massaging the stiffness from Alex's shoulders. "Like that?"

Alex hums quietly as she rolls her head to the side, marveling in the temporary stress relief. "Exactly like that. You have fabulous hands…where did you learn this."

"My sister had a coupon for a free course and she dragged me along with her. I don't know why I went, but I supposed that it would come in handy in the future." Natalie replies with a nonchalant shrug.

"Well it most definitely does come in hand." Alex hums, before a thought crosses her mind. "I'm sure your life partner must be very grateful."

Thanking God that she is standing behind the president, Natalie blushes heavily and her hands falter briefly before she clears her throat. "Oh, no Ma'am, I'm…I'm not seeing anyone."

Alex quirks an eyebrow in curiosity at the confession. "Oh? Surely I thought you would have a boyfriend at least."

"No Ma'am…I haven't been in a relationship since college and even then…well, she and I just didn't work out." The assistant responds awkwardly. "It's not really something that I like to talk about."

"Well you are a _very_ beautiful woman."

"T-thank you Ma'am. I appreciate that."

"Mhmm…"

* * *

**Later **

Casey is so focused on trying to stop the bickering between her daughters that she doesn't notice the new party entering the dining room. It is only when the girls fall silent that she looks up to see her wife standing in the entryway. "Alex…"

Alex offers the tinniest of smiles and a nod before she takes a seat at the head of the elongated table, directly across from Casey while her two daughters occupy the sides. She opens her mouth to say something but realizes she doesn't know what exactly she should say so she settles on closing her mouth and lightly tapping her fingers on the table.

"Look who decided to join us…" the couple's thirteen year old daughter Megan mumbles under her breath, though it doesn't go unheard by her mother who practically has ears like a bat.

"Megan!" Casey hisses, offering the teen a glare, only glaring harder when she receives an eye roll in return. She straightens her posture a little before offering Alex a small smile. "Good evening. I'm really glad that you could join us for the night."

Alex looks up rather abruptly before she smiles and clears her throat. "Well, um, I had a little free time, and I saw it was time for dinner, so I figured that I would join you all this evening."

"I'm really glad you could be here, honey." Casey responds with a warm smile.

"Aubrey, did you and Mommy have fun today at the library?" Alex speaks up, addressing the six year old who is dully pushing her salad around the plate.

Aubrey shrugs a shoulder and refuses to look up at the question. "It was okay…" she mumbles a little sadly as she is still upset that she didn't get to go feed the ducks like she had been promised.

Casey bites her lower lip, eyeing Aubrey curiously before a thought pops into her head and she looks up with a smile. "Oh! Um, we've been meaning to talk to you about something. Megan has expressed an interest in wanting to play soccer."

"Soccer?" Alex repeats with a rather blank expression on her face. "Um, I'm sure that you can find a ball around here somewhere and…"

"On…on a team honey…"

"Oh! Oh, I see. On a team…um, well, when did this happen?"

"Three months ago." Megan replies in a snarky manner as she lifts her head from where she was resting her head in a board fashion. "You would know that if you actually came to dinner once and a while."

Alex frowns deeply, completely floored by the harshness of her daughter's words. "Megan, you will not speak to me like that. Do you understand?"

Megan raises her eyebrows and mocks being taken aback. "Well excuse me." she responds in a haughty fashion before glaring hard at the older woman. "You think that just because you're the president, you can do whatever you want? Newsflash, it doesn't."

"Megan…" Casey hisses, shaking her head.

"Why don't you do something for once! I'm so tired of hearing you cry day in and day out when you can easily fix it by just saying something!" Megan shouts back, now addressing Casey.

"You've been crying?" Alex echoes with a frown of confusion as she stares at her wife across the table.

Casey shakes her head vigorously at the question. "This isn't about me right now!"

"The hell it isn't!" Megan responds, earning a collective glare from her parents.

"Megan Elizabeth Cabot, you will NOT use words like that, do you understand?" Casey warns firmly, her face turning the crimson shade of her hair from her emotion.

"Casey if you've been crying then you should've told me!" Alex cuts in, her voice having raised a few volumes as well.

"Alex, not now! Not in front of the kids!"

"Why not now!? If you've been crying, I deserve to know why! You should've said something!"

"And when would I have done that Alex?! When do I ever see you!?"

"You could've made an effort! You should've talked to Nat!"

"I'm not going to make an appointment to have a conversation with my wife! Do you see that this conversation is all because of you!?"

Alex looks completely taken aback by the accusation. "No, this conversation is happening because your daughter decided she was going to act like she was raised in a barn and talk back to me!"

A hurt look crosses Casey's features as she shakes her head. "She's your daughter too, Alex! You would know that if you would spend some time with her! You would know that if you would spend some time with the both of them! Hell, all of us!"

"Well she sure as hell isn't my daughter if she's going to talk to me like that!"

At this, the table falls completely silent. Aubrey has tears flowing down her cheeks at hearing her family fight and argue while Megan stares blankly at her plate in front of her and Casey sits slack-jawed across the table, completely in shock at the words that just came out of her wife's mouth.

Her pride not letting her utter a sliver of an apology, Alex simply shakes her head and pushes her chair away from the table. "This is exactly why I didn't want to come in here tonight. I'll eat in my office." And with that, she stands from the chair and strides from the room leaving the rest of her family at the table.

"Mommy?" Aubrey whimpers, her voice on the verge of hysterics. "Why does Momma hate us?"

The question breaks Casey's heart and completely floors her to where she finds herself opening and closing her mouth several times before she can answer. "She doesn't hate you, sweetie."

"Yes she does." Megan buts in caustically. "But it doesn't matter, because I hate her."

"Megan, stop that, your mother-"

"Did you not just hear what she just said? I'm not her daughter. I'm nothing more than her burden; we all are. She doesn't care about any of us."

"She hates us!" Aubrey whimpers before she bursts into tears. "Why does she hate us, Mommy? What did we do?"

Casey feels her own tears pricking at her eyes as she pulls Aubrey into her lap, hugging her tightly. She knows that she needs to stay strong for her kids, but she doesn't know how much longer she can continue to pretend.

* * *

**The Following Day**

"Do you want me to have Abbie beat her up?" Serena jokes, bumping shoulders with her down-casted friend in an attempt to cheer her up.

A small smile flits across Casey's face before she sighs again. "No, because I'm sure it says somewhere in the Constitution; 'thou shall not attack the residing President because he or she is being an idiot'."

"I can try to get it put in the constitution." Kim pipes in before a thought crosses her mind. "Ooo, if you kill her then maybe I'll be the president."

"You gotta get past Maggie first," Serena chuckles in reference to the vice president. "And you know the old broad won't go down without a fight."

"You never know."

"We probably shouldn't talk about government conspiracies in the White House." Casey chimes in before sighing once more. "I just don't know what to do about Alex anymore. Things have never been this bad. Even when she was running her campaign, she wasn't like this. I would think that the campaign would be more stressful than the job."

"Not so sure…" Serena hums with a shrug before taking a sip of her tea. "She has a country to worry about, but that is no excuse for her to be treating you like she is."

Casey sighs rather heavily for what is probably the hundredth time that afternoon. "Right now, I wish that she had never ran for president. Do you know how hard it is being married to the president but being extremely unhappy?"

"Must be difficult." Kim hums quietly. "You're the First Lady"

"Which is fancy politics lingo for 'arm candy'." Serena giggles, falling silent when she receives a small glare for interrupting. "Sorry."

Kim sighs heavily, rolling her eyes at the other woman before addressing Casey once more. "Though I wouldn't have phrased it quite like Serena just did, but she does have a point. You're the First Lady. It's kind of like your think to be sociable and upbeat and everything. You know every first lady has something she's remembered for."

"Yeah, promoting!" Serena exclaims excitedly. "You know Jackie Kennedy sought out to restore the White House."

"Lady Bird Johnson pushed for environmental protection."

"Ooo! Nancy Regan founded the 'Just Say No' to drugs movement."

"And a more recent one, Michelle Obama promoted healthy eating and awareness against childhood obesity."

Casey rolls her eyes at her friends and folds her arms across her chest. "Then what am I?"

"That whiny bitch who tried to get kids to go to school and learn." Kim mutters, causing Serena to nearly spit out her tea as the two of them burst into fits of hysteric laughter at their friend's expense.

"Oh Case, you know we're just kidding." Serena tuts as she swats the pouting First Lady on the shoulder. "You know we love you."

"I'll have you know that education is highly important and people need to see the importance of that." Casey retorts, turning up her nose at her friends. "Serena, you're a teacher! You should know how important education really is!"

"Yeah well if education is so important you would pay me more for teaching your kids." Serena responds smugly raising an eyebrow before her face turns serious. "Speaking of which, I've been meaning to speak with you about Megan. She's falling behind lately."

Casey frowns in genuine concern before tilting her head. "Falling behind? What do you mean?"

Serena pauses a moment, mulling over what she wants to say in her head before she continues. "It's like she's not even trying anymore. She doesn't complete her homework assignments and I have to fight her to get her to pay attention to me. It's beginning to become a bit of a problem…"

"I'll talk to her." Casey sighs, knowing exactly what Megan's problem is, though she isn't quite ready to voice it to her friends just yet.

"If Alex and Maggie mysteriously disappeared on a boat trip to Cancun." Kim mumbles out loud with a hum as her eyes are narrowed in what looks to be deep thought.

"Are you still plotting ways you can become president?" Casey questions with a look of disapproval.

"Second in line is better than most." Serena replies with a shrug before smirking. "Wonder why Alex made you 'Speaker of the House'. You don't like to Speak to anybody. Better yet, why are you a politician? You hate people."

"Well if I'm the president I can get rid of all the people I hate. Duh." Kim responds holding out her hand as if it's that plain and simple.

Casey chuckles and shakes her head at her friend's bluntness. "On second thought, I'm kinda glad you aren't the president. We'd be more like a Dictatorship than a Republic."

"Oh boohoo." Kim responds, crossing her legs as she leans back in her chair and examines her nails. "Maybe when you leave Alex she'll go into a fit of depression and resign. Then I'll just have to take care of Maggie."

"I'm not leaving Alex…" Casey states softly but firmly.

"Why not? You should." The dark haired woman replies honestly. "Singleness is happiness. Look at me; single and second in line for the presidency."

"Kim stop it." Serena tuts again this time swatting at Kim who has no problem swatting back. "They have two children together, Kimberly. Casey can't just leave…can you?"

Casey frowns deeply as her ears can't believe what she's hearing. "Of course not. We do have two beautiful children but Alex is my wife and I love her. It's just barely been a year since she officially took office. She's still really stressed out."

Kim huffs at this and responds with another honest comment of hers. "Now you sound like you're making excuses."

"I am not making excuses!" Casey exclaims, standing up abruptly from her chair.

"Okay, let's pour some more tea." Serena chimes in trying to defuse the fuse threatening to blow.

"No, she needs to know. I am not making an excuse." Casey says firmly, before meeting Kim's challenging eyes. "Just because your wife cheated on you and took your son to God knows where does not mean that everyone else's spouse is complete scum. You have absolutely no right to criticize my marriage and my family when you couldn't even maintain your own."

"You're right, I don't." Kim answers, seemingly unaffected as she shrugs her shoulders. "My apologies. But you have to realize that I'm only being honest with you for your own good. I'm not saying what I'm saying is true, it's my opinion; but I at least think you should think about what I have to say. I'm not criticizing you or your family; I'm just saying making excuses for your wife isn't going to solve the problem."

Casey sighs heavily and roughly drags her hands through her hair. "You're right…" she murmurs sadly as she returns to her chair. "Kim about what I just said, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…I didn't mean to…it was wrong."

The brunette simply shrugs her shoulders and turns her head to where she is looking off in a random direction of the garden. "I'm over it." She responds. Her friends know fairly well that she's not over it, but they also know better than to call her on it.

Serena waits a moment, making sure the moment has diffused between her friends before she speaks. "Everything will be okay Casey. Just have a nice sit down talk with Alex. You'll work things out."

"Yeah well…the trick is getting her to find time to actually talk if I don't make an _appointment_."

"You're joking." Serena deadpans, her typically bubbly attitude evaporating for a brief moment.

"I wish I was…" Casey replies sadly before her emotions catch up with her and her words catch in her throat. "My family is falling apart…and I don't know what I can do to save it."

**Hmmm, let's see how well you guys were paying attention and what all you picked up on in this rather heated chapter. Leave your thoughts, findings, and feedback! **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I just felt like writing some dysfunction. Bear with me, hehehe.**

"It's infuriating." Alex murmurs out loud as she continues to pace the length of her office, a habit that she has grown quite used to since she has taken office. She pauses before she lets out a puff of air and roughly drags her hands through her hair. "She let the child sit there and openly degrade me. Openly degrade ME at the dinner table. A dinner that I hadn't even wanted to attend but I had decided to attend anyway out of the goodness of my heart and that is the way that I am treated. The teenager needs to quickly learn her place."

"I-I'm sorry…?" Natalie offers awkwardly as she continues her job at stabling various packets of papers together. "You mean Megan? I do believe her name is Megan…"

Pausing briefly once again, Alex huffs greatly once again as she folds her arms tightly and her face contorts into an irritated scowl. "She has absolutely no right to speak to me that way. I am her mother. Have I not given her everything, if not more? Shouldn't her mannerisms be more well kept as my first born child? As heir to my fortunes, she should have much better manners and hint of respect."

Natalie stays silent for a moment as she picks and chooses her words carefully. "Perhaps, she is troubled?" she offers with an inquisitive tilt of her head. "It's no doubt that Megan loves you, but maybe if you expressed a more…motherly nature, she may not have problems opening up and revealing the problem…"

"What do you know about parenting?" Alex mutters as she leans against her desk where her assistant is organizing her paperwork.

"Well, nothing…" Natalie admits with a small shrug. "But I do know what it's like to be to be a daughter with no connection to her mother. Children just want to be heard and given the chance to speak their mind."

A smile tugs at the corner of Alex's lips as she reaches over and tucks a stray strand of golden hair behind Natalie's ear. "You somehow manage to ease my frustrations." She hums, letting her fingers lightly dance across the younger woman's cheek.

A heavy blush appears on Natalie's face as she drops the stapler on the desk with a clatter. "U-um, I'm glad that I can, um, be of an assistance to you."

"I don't think you ever told me why you weren't seeing anyone." Alex inquires with a seemingly innocent tilt of her head.

"Oh! Well, I just…I guess I just don't have the time. You always keep me so…so busy." The young assistant stammers, suddenly becoming aware of their close proximities. "Um, I-I should really finish…finishing putting these together for you."

Alex casts her eyes downward as her smirk returns. "Let's not worry about that right now." She murmurs before lightly pressing a kiss to Natalie's lips.

Natalie's eyes widen and she pales about ten shades as her hands begin to shake. "Madame President, I-I…I'm flattered but…"

"Alex." The elder blonde corrects through her heavily lidded eyes.

"Alex…" Natalie repeats reluctantly, the use of the president's actual name feeling completely foreign on her lips. "This…this is wrong. You're married and you're wife…"

"My wife…is clear across the city."

"Nevertheless, she's the mother of your children and she's very good to me. I wouldn't want to betray her trust like this."

Alex hums, though she only seems to move closer to where they are sharing breathing space. "You're very beautiful." She whispers, gently stroking the other woman's cheek. "You're beautiful, and talented, and intelligent."

Natalie releases a shaky breath as she attempts to take a step back. "I appreciate the compliments, Ma'am, but you shouldn't do this to your wife…"

"As you can see, my wife and I are not on the best or terms right now." Alex responds with a far off look. "But you…you do things for me that she doesn't. One time won't hurt anything, now will it?"

"I-I don't know."

"No one will have to know."

"But-but y-your wife…"

"Is not here." Alex reiterates for what feels like the hundredth time as she pulls the young assistant to her, capturing her lips in a searing kiss. She smirks into the kiss when she feels Natalie's hesitation dissipate. When the need for air becomes too great for the both of them, she smiles as she rests their foreheads against each other. "You need to relax and not worry about so much at the moment."

Natalie ducks her head, trying and failing to fight the blush forming at her cheeks. "I-I don't want to mess anything up."

"Don't worry. It'll all be fine."

Later, Natalie finds herself clutching a duvet blanket up to her chin as she stares wide eyed at the ceiling of a rather lavish bedroom that is typically used as a guest room whenever the president is housing important guests. A large knot has formed in the pit of her stomach and she feels as if she's going to vomit at any moment from her swirling pit of nerves.

Her eyes shift to her right when the bed dips from a new intrusion of weight. She bites down hard on her bottom lip and she averts her eyes back to the ceiling as she wills herself not to cry. Unfortunately, her body and emotions betray her as single tears begin to spill down her cheeks.

Alex purses her lips tightly before she tilts her head and wipes away her assistant's tears. "Don't cry…" she hums, leaning over to place a lingering kiss to the younger woman's cheek. "Everything's fine."

"N-no…" Natalie whimpers as she sits up and draws the blanket up to her chest. "That was so wrong. We just…did that and you're-you're my boss, and you're married, and-"

"And no one has to know." Alex finishes off, gently turning Natalie's chin to force eye contact. "No one has to know…right?"

"Yes Ma'am…"

"Excellent. Now get yourself cleaned up. We've got work to do."

* * *

**Later **

Casey's heels clack against the floor with determination as she makes her way towards her wife's office. Once she gets there, she doesn't even bother to knock as she barges in and slams the door behind her, startling the blonde on the other wise. "We need to talk."

"Busy." Alex murmurs as she recovers and returns to signing her paperwork.

"I don't care." Casey challenges ashes marches over to the desk and swipes all of the papers into a neat stack. "We need to talk and we need to talk now; without any interruptions, and without any distractions."

Alex stands up from her desk and moves over to the seating area in her office where she motions for Casey to join her. "You want to talk?"

"I do." Casey responds with a nod before her face relaxes and she sighs heavily. "Alex, we need to talk about what happened at dinner the other night. I don't…I know that you're stressed out, okay? I know that you're stressed out and you're busy, but I really do want for you to spend time with your kids. It hurts that you don't get to spend time with me, but I can deal with that. I-I just want you to spend time with your children because they're yours Alex. Remember when we first decided to have a baby? How excited you were? And then when Megan was born? Where did that excitement go, honey?"

Alex sighs heavily as she removes her glasses and digs her palms into her eyes. "Sometimes I just feel like they aren't my kids. They've always liked you better."

"That's not true." Casey responds gently as she takes her wife's hands in her own. "They love us both equally. And Alex, they are your kids. I may have given birth to them, but whose egg did we use for the procedure? If anything, they're more yours than mine."

"What am I supposed to do Casey…" Alex begins with a sigh of exasperation. "I don't even know where to begin. You saw how Megan was at dinner and Aubrey will never forgive me for not taking her to feed the ducks."

"Then make up for it." Casey offers gently with a small smile. "Spend time with them. Take a day or so off and just do things with them that you haven't done in a while. Take them somewhere nice, do the things they want to do. Just spend time with them Alex…if you don't do this for me, at least do this for them."

Alex is silent for a moment before she sighs and closes her eyes. "I'll see what I can do." she says, opening her eyes to see Casey glaring at her firmly. "I'll make time…I promise."

Casey grins at this feeling a suddenly sense of relief washing over her. "Thank you." she responds, before placing a kiss to her wife's cheek. "And please…no more broken promises."

Alex nods at this and allows for Casey to press a lingering kiss to her lips. "Alright," she whispers in response, taking a much needed deep breath as her wife stands and exits her office. She flops back on the sofa before she digs her hands into her eyes once more. "God, what have I done…"

**Meanwhile…**

"I don't know Megan…I really don't think you're supposed to have that." Charlotte Carmichael explains as she eyes her best friend curiously. "My parents would have a fit if they knew that I did."

"They're not gonna find out unless you tell them." Megan sneers as she continues to size up the expensive looking glass bottle of the amber liquid. "Besides, I just wanna know what it tastes like."

Charlie shakes her head in disapproval before drawing her knees up to her chest. "Where did you even get that anyway?" she asks, nodding towards the bottle.

"I got it from Ma's desk." Megan replies with a nonchalant shrug. "I figured she kept something in her desk and I wanted to try it, so I snuck in and swiped it when she was away. You sure you don't wanna try it with me?"

"I'm sure…and I really don't think you should try it either." Charlie explains once again with another shake of her head. "That stuff is for adults, Megan and we shouldn't have it…don't you know all those stupid health videos and stuff that say that stuff is bad for you?"

Megan makes a face before she folds her arms over her chest. "I'm homeschooled remember? Your Mom 'teaches' me and it's not like normal school…Mom said that I'm homeschooled because Ma thinks it's safer of Aubrey and Me and we'll be getting a better education anyway because we're not out trying to learn with common gutter scum in a public school."

Charlie's eyes cast downward as her shoulders slump. "I go to public school…" she murmurs sadly, feeling the sting of the words.

Megan shrugs again before picking up the bottle once again. "Those are Ma's words, not mine."

"Your Ma is kinda mean…"

"She's a bitch…"

Charlie's eyes widen as a small blush appears at her cheeks. "You're allowed to say words like that?"

"Probably not…" Megan replies with another shrug. "You go to public school, don't you hear words like that all the time? And what about your parents? Don't they say words like that?"

"Not really…They tell me that words like that aren't acceptable for me to use. Especially my Mom…she's kind of…like that." Charlie responds looking concerned. "Are you okay? You seem kinda different."

"Different how?"

"I don't know…just…different. Is everything okay."

For a brief moment a look of sadness crosses Megan's features before she shrugs once again. "I'm fine." She mutters before snapping up again. "I'm fine. Now come on, let's drink some of this."

Charlie looks extremely hesitant as she shakes her head. "Megan I don't know."

"What? Are you scared?" Megan teases prodding her best friend.

"No…I just don't feel like it…how about next time?"

"Fine…suit yourself."

**Don't fret, when have I never provided a happy ending and resolutions…leave your thoughts! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Stuff happened and I couldn't sleep…so…this happened. Enjoy. **

Abbie hums quietly to herself as she continues her typical nighttime patrol. As she goes through her patrol her mind can't help but wonder back to earlier when she got to see her daughter and how off Charlie seemed for some reason. It's very rare that Charlie is spooked by anything and despite her asking if anything was wrong, Abbie wasn't exactly surprised when she was rewarded with a nervous smile, a 'nothing', and a kiss to the cheek before heading home with her mother. Teenagers are something that Abbie is quite sure she's ready to try to understand…which is why she leaves most of the understanding to Serena on a normal basis.

As she is making her way down a particularly empty corridor, her ears pick up on a feint noise in the distance where she immediately puts her hand on her gun. It's not unheard of for people to be moving around at this hour, it's the White House, people are moving all the time, but one can never be too sure. After another brief moment of listening for any kinds of sounds, Abbie shrugs and proceeds on her patrol, only to collide with another person.

"Shit," she swears quietly as she bends over and quickly helps the shorter woman to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"Oh god, I-I'm so sorry." Natalie rambles nervously as she stands up and smoothes out her skirt.

At this, Abbie chuckles quietly and quirks a curious eyebrow. "There's no need to apologize to me. You're the one that took the fall there."

"Oh! Oh, yes, I'm fine. Again, I'm really sorry. I didn't see you but I really should've been watching where I was going. Sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it. But it's getting to be pretty late and you should start heading home. I know you can't get hurt or anything here, but once you get outside these gates, you'll never know. Alright?"

Natalie shakily nods her head all the while managing to successfully avoid making direct eye contact. "Yes, thank you. I just need to grab my purse and I'll be heading out." She explains, briefly meeting the agent's eyes to smile. "Sorry for running into you again. You have a goodnight."

"Goodnight." Abbie responds with a nod, watching Natalie disappear down the corridor before going back to her patrol. In no time she is rounding another corner where she abruptly freezes upon seeing a very familiar blonde standing just outside out a closed door where she is tucking her shirt into her slacks. Quirking an eyebrow, she turns her head in slight concern. "Uh….Ma'am?"

Alex blinks rapidly as she freezes and looks up to find one of her agents staring back at her, only to relax a mere second later when she sees it's only Abbie. "Oh, Abbie, Jesus, you scared me." she mumbles, buttoning up the sleeves of her blue button down. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm on patrol, but I could be asking you the same question. It's past eleven o'clock." Abbie answers as she approaches slowly.

Alex raises her eyebrows briefly before she puts her blazer back on. "I had some late night business I needed to handle." She responds with a glare that is basically begging the agent to question her again. "Is that a problem, Agent?"

Abbie shrinks briefly under the scrutinizing glare before she clears her throat. "I meant no disrespect, Madame President, I was just curious as to what you were doing on this particular side of the house when your bedroom is on the other side."

"I would really appreciate it if you would mind your own business." The blonde speaks firmly.

"Yes Ma'am…of course." Abbie answers, hanging her head for a moment before clearing her throat once more. "There isn't a problem is there? I've been meaning to speak with you, but you're so busy that I-"

"Are we speaking as the president and a secret service agent, or are we speaking as Alex and Abbie…"

"I was hoping if we could speak as the latter. This is more of an 'Alex and Abbie' kind of conversation."

Alex sighs at this and runs her hands through hair before she crosses her arms. "Continue…"

Abbie is silent for a moment as she searches for her words, but she finds that being honest is the only way that it's going to make sense. "I…well, I'm worried about Aubrey." she begins, taking Alex's quirked brow as a notion for her to go on. "She doesn't want to do anything anymore. I'd usual take her with me just for random stuff, you know, to the park or something random like that, but now she says she doesn't want to go."

"Is this about the duck thing…" Alex groans audibly as she lets her head drop back against the door of the room.

"Duck thing?" Abbie replies with a rather perplexed look.

Alex sighs heavily once more before shrugging her shoulders. "I had told Aubrey that I would take her to feed the stupid ducks at the pond, but so much has come up that I just haven't had time. I tried to get her to go with Casey but she wasn't having any of that."

Abbie purses her lips for a moment as she crosses her arms. "Well, I offered to take her and she said she didn't wanna go anymore. I think she just really wanted to go with you Alex."

"Aubrey is a six year old who doesn't understand how important my work is. Look, I'm trying to make time alright? But it's not that easy. I can't just drop everything for an hour to take her to the park to feed a bunch of birds. It's unrealistic. You know that. How much time do you get to spend with Charlie?"

"Come on…don't bring Charlie into this."

"Answer the question, Abigail."

Abbie silently bites down on her bottom lip before she sighs. "Honestly, not as much as I would like to." She responds, before quickly recovering. "But I do make time to spend with her and she knows that I do. I take her to a movie every Sunday evening. So I do spend time with my daughter."

Alex sighs for probably the hundredth time before throwing her hair over her shoulder. "Listen, I appreciate your concern for Aubrey, but that might be a discussion you may want to have with Casey. She's better with the kids than I am…"

* * *

Casey is jarred from her light slumber when she feels the mattress dip next to her. She squints at the time on the clock to see that it's almost midnight before she turns over to find the typically empty side of the bed occupied. "Hey you."

"Hi." Alex responds with a tired smile.

"Your hairs wet." Casey points out, gently running her fingers through the damp blonde tresses.

"Yeah, I had a shower before coming to bed."

"Well I'm glad you were able to come to bed tonight. It's been a while."

Alex hums in response, and is slightly taken off guard when Casey snuggles into her and rests her head on her shoulder; a feeling that feels rather foreign. Has it really been that long since she's been to bed that she's forgotten what it feels like to hold her own wife?

"I've missed this." Casey hums, inhaling her wife's scent before she sighs. "I'm worried about Megan, honey."

Alex grunts in response, shifting uncomfortably for a brief moment at the mention of her eldest daughter. "How so." She mumbles, though Casey can tell she's really uninterested in the topic.

"Baby, can you at least listen? She's your daughter."

"She doesn't act like it."

"Alex please! What you said at dinner really hurt her and I'm still trying to fix it but she won't talk to me. I'm just worried about her because she's stopped speaking. Even Serena says she's starting to fall behind with school work and I'm just worried. What do you think is wrong with her?"

Alex sighs before rising up enough to look at her wife's emerald eyes. "Honestly?" she begins receiving a slight nod in response. "Honestly, I think she's just being a teenager. You know teenagers are when they get to be Megan's age. Rambunctious, rebellious, annoying…"

"Alex…"

"It's true."

Casey sighs heavily and lays her head back down on Alex's shoulder. "I just hope that she knows that if there is anything that's wrong, that she can come to us with it. I don't want her to feel like she can't tell us anything. That's the last thing I want from either of my children. I think we should take a vacation…as a family."

"Maybe…" Alex trails off, taking a deep breath as she pinches the bridge of her nose from her exhaustion. "Maybe we can have a stay at Camp David for while…"

"Really?" Casey exclaims as her head pops up with excitement before hugging Alex tightly. "Oh my gosh, honey, that's great! That'll be just perfect for us and for the kids! Thank you, Honey."

"Yeah well…you know me." Alex replies with an awkward shrug.

"I do. And I'm proud to see you make an effort." Casey responds, placing a light kiss to her wife's lips. "I love you."

"I love you too, Sweetheart…"

**The Following Morning **

Megan attempts to open her eyes, but quickly slams them shut when the morning rays are too much on her delicate eyesight. She groans quietly as her stomach does flip flops right before she drags her blankets over her head. As she is dead set on going back to sleep, there is a quick knock on her door right before she hears her mother's voice.

"Megan, it's time to get up." Casey says with an exasperated sigh, not surprised when she doesn't even get a mumble in response. "Megan Elizabeth, it's well past twelve o'clock…"

"I don't care." The teen grumbles, burying herself further under her blankets. She feels like hell which means she probably looks like hell and the very last thing she needs is for her mom to start asking questions. "Go away."

Casey sighs heavily once more as she moves further into the room and perches herself on the edge of her daughter's bed. "Megan, I just want to speak you."

"I don't want to talk. Go away."

"Megan, it's about your mother."

Megan snorts humorlessly though she makes no attempt to sit up. "Oh now I'm really interested." She responds sarcastically. "Go away…"

Casey purses her lips tightly as she folds her hands in her lap, determined not to give up. "Megan please just bear with me. I know what she said hurt you, but I can promise you that she didn't mean it."

"Yes she did. She made it very clear at that table that she didn't want anything to do with me."

"Megan that's not true. Your mother loves you, but sometimes, she just has a different way of showing it."

"Yeah, denying me as her daughter makes me feel extremely loved." Megan replies caustically once again.

Casey shakes her head at the remark, taking note at how Megan managed to inherit Alex's biting sarcasm. "As I was saying before, she loves you and she truly is sorry."

Megan snorts before shifting further into her bed; if that's even possible. "If she's so sorry and she loves me so much, then why isn't she the one in here apologizing?" she asks before scoffing when she receives silence as an response. "Exactly. She doesn't care about me."

"Megan…will you please come out of there so we can have a proper conversation?"

"I don't feel well."

"Megan…"

"I don't! My stomach hurts and I feel nauseated. Please…can I just go back to sleep?"

Casey hesitates for a moment before she stands and sighs. "Alright…but I'm going to be checking on you regularly, alright?" she says before pressing her hand to Megan's forehead underneath the cocoon of blankets. "Hm…you don't seem to have a fever. I'll let you get some more rest and if you're awake in an hour I'll be back with medicine and some ginger ale for you."

"Okay…" Megan hums before tucking herself back into bed. "Thanks Mom."

"Oh! I almost forgot. Your Mother and I were talking last night and she and I agreed that it would be good for us as a family to take a little vacation for a while. We'll be going to Camp David next weekend."

"Camp David!? With Alex?! No thanks!" The teen grumbles.

Casey winces at the harshness of her daughter's tone before she quickly recovers. "Well too bad, because you're going. I'll leave you to get some rest. Feel better, sweetheart." She says. As she exits her daughter's bedroom, she closes the door and sighs quietly. Teenagers have got to be an entirely different species because she just doesn't know how to handle Megan anymore.

As she is about to go check on Aubrey, she spots a familiar person looking through a stack of papers at the end of the hall. "Natalie!"

The timid blonde startles and nearly drops her papers at the sudden use of her name. She looks up and pales about five shades when she sees the First Lady approaching her with a smile. "M-Mrs. Cabot. What a surprise." She stammers, managing a nervous smile.

Casey tilts her head at the young woman, wondering why she looks like she's about to either break down and cry, run away, or a sad combination of both. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, yes, everything's fine. I just…didn't get much sleep last night." Natalie trails off, dropping her gaze towards the floor. "Oh! I've been meaning to tell you that my mother really enjoyed your speech on education. She really admires you for speaking out on children in schools and about learning."

"Well be sure to send her my thanks." Casey answers with a sincere smile. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing?"

Natalie blinks in confusion for a moment before she remembers the papers. "Oh. I was just around and Mrs. Carmichael asked me if I would make copies of Aubrey's assignment for today. I was just on me way to return them to her."

Casey frowns for a moment before everything clicks. "Oh, you mean Serena." She confirms with a nod and a chuckle. "Whenever she's teaching she tends to go by her maiden name."

"Oh. I had no idea, I just figured since she's married to…"

"No, I completely understand. I'll tell you what, how about I take these to her? I was just on my way to check on them anyway."

"Well…okay." Natalie responds with a nod before handing over the papers.

Casey takes the papers and glances at them for a moment before sending the blonde a smile. "You're a really hard worker, Natalie. I know that working directly for Alex isn't easy all the time, but you still manage to hang in there."

Natalie bites the inside of her cheek as she sadly hangs her head once again. "Thank you Ma'am…that really means a lot coming from you. I-I really should get going…I have a lot of work to do and I don't want to keep you away from doing what you need to do."

"Alright. You have a good day then if I don't see you again."

"You too, Ma'am."

Casey smiles after the younger woman before she proceeds to her daughter's room to check on her during her lesson. A warm smile crosses her face and she sighs happily as she feels like things are finally looking up for her family.

**Hm….leave your thoughts? **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Not proud of this chapter. I felt like I could've done better. Anyhow, enjoy!**

"Momma, how come all of the cars and stuff with the flashy lights have to drive down there but we get to fly in the helichopter?" Aubrey asks curiously as her face is plastered against the glass of the chopper window.

There is a small silence as Alex and Casey share a brief look of silent question. After a moment, Casey opens her mouth to tackle the situation of the question she finds herself to be immediately cut off by Megan answering for her.

"It's in case somebody wants to kill the president." The teen deadpans with a shrug, not exactly caring what it'll do to her sister.

"Megan…" Casey groans quietly as she pinches the bridge of her nose.

"What? It's true." Megan answers with another shrug.

Aubrey, however, finally turns away from the window with her eyes wide with fear. "But…why would anyone wanna kill Momma?" she asks fearfully, looking to her older sister for an answer once again.

Megan rolls her eyes and glances at Alex out of the corner of her eye, not surprised to find her mother staring blankly out a window, rather than looking at any of them. "Well I dunno. I'm sure that I could think of a number of reasons."

"Like what?"

"Well for starters she's a-"

"That's enough." Alex speaks firmly for the first time since they've boarded the aircraft. She finally looks away from the window and glares across the area at Megan, only to find her own icy blue eyes glaring back at her. "Megan, when we land, you and I are going to have a very serious talk. Alone."

Megan rolls her eyes and crosses her arms before returning the statement with a challenging look. "I don't have anything I need to say to you."

Alex's eyes narrow darkly, and she has to suppress a smirk when she sees Megan's glare falter a little. Who does this child think she is? Thinking she can out glare her? "Well that's too bad isn't it; because I have plenty that I need to say to you."

"You're such a bitch." Megan mumbles, though it most definitely doesn't go unheard.

"If that's so, then your behavior shows that you have learned quite well." Alex retorts, not even bothering to care that she's stooping to Megan's petty blows.

Casey, who has heard more than enough, is tired of holding her tongue as she huffs greatly out of frustration. "The both of you need to stop it. We are a family and we are headed out on a family vacation to act like we are a family and I'll be damned if I let your petty arguing ruin it." She pauses for added measure, glaring at the two blondes across from each other. "Have I made myself clear?" After her little spiel, she isn't the least bit of surprised when she doesn't get a response from neither her wife nor her daughter. They haven't even landed yet and already you can cut the tension with a knife.

Once landing at their destination, Casey sighs quietly as she spots the two rows of Marine and Naval officers waiting to greet them at the helipad. "I just can't understand why it's so necessary for them to stand so stiff like that." she inquires as she continues to examine the soldiers.

"Kinda reminds you of robots." Alex replies with a quiet chuckle, a rather rare moment on her part.

"Ooo, robots!" Aubrey beams, studying the still soldiers. "Are they really robots Momma?"

"No honey, Momma, was joking." Casey replies, dropping a small kiss to her daughter's head before taking her hand as they are ushered out of the chopper.

"At-ten-tion!" A loud booming voice calls out over the whirl of the helicopter causing the soldiers to snap to attention. "Pre-sent, Arms!" the same voice calls out after a brief pause and the soldiers simultaneously salute in greeting to their commander in chief and the first family.

"You never really get tired of seeing them do that, do you?" Casey inquires quietly into her wife's ear.

Alex can't hide the tiny smile that tugs at the corner of her lips. "Sometimes it makes me want to get on board and come out another time just to see them do it again." She replies as they near the lodge where they are greeted by another Naval officer in which Alex greets him with a nod. "Commander."

"Madame President." The officer responds with a brief salute before placing his hands behind his back. "It is an honor to serve you and your family on your stay here at Camp David. I can assure you that everything will be accommodated to your liking and if you need anything at all, let me know."

"Thank you, Commander." Alex answers with a smile before nodding for a family to follow as she heads off towards the vehicles that will take them to the lodge. Once inside, she sighs quietly, releasing a breath that she hadn't known she had been holding for an unknown reason.

"This is really nice." Casey points out, admiring the interior as she lets go of Aubrey's hand and the little girl takes off to dive onto one of the plush sofas. She grins at her youngest before leaning over to place a gentle kiss on her wife's cheek. "This was a lovely idea, Honey."

Alex simply grins in response before placing a brief, chaste, kiss to Casey's lips. "I'm glad you're thrilled." She responds before she steps away and clears her throat as she notices Megan sneaking off in another direction. "Don't think you're getting off the hook. Come here."

Megan rolls her eyes for probably the hundredth time in the past two hours as she spins on her heel and follows Alex towards a waiting bedroom. She slips into the room and retreats to the other side before spinning around to face her mother.

"Have a seat." Alex begins coolly as she motions to the bed.

"I'd rather stand." Megan retorts, but with a harsh glare from the older blonde, she reluctantly finds herself taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

Alex is silent for a moment before she takes a deep breath and runs her hands through her hair. "Megan, I am getting to be extremely tired of you disrespecting me and I have been tired of you disrespecting me in public, more specifically in front of your mother and your sister."

Megan raises an eyebrow at this before snorting mirthlessly. "That's where you're wrong, you haven't even been around for me to disrespect you."

"And I'm supposed to believe that you have never once disrespected me behind my back?" Alex responds firmly, not surprised when she gets silence in response to her otherwise rhetorical question. "That's what I thought. I know for a fact that your mother and I have not raised you to act like this and I know you have much better manners than what you have been presenting to everyone; me specifically. I will not stand for your disrespectful behaviors."

"What're you gonna do, Alex, ground me?"

"What did you just call me?"

"Alex." Megan repeats with a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "That is your name; isn't it?"

Alex's facial expression hardens into one of frightening anger and frustration. One that is scary enough to startle even the best trained Marine out of his attention stance. She crosses the room in three quick strides before dragging Megan to her feet by her shirt. "You will respect me, do you understand?" she hisses.

Megan's eyes only narrow in challenge before she cocks her head to the side. "And if I don't?"

Within the span of a nanosecond, Alex raises her hand which in turn causes Megan to duck and involuntarily cower away from the potential oncoming blow. However, Alex quickly comes to her senses as she drops her hand and releases her hold on Megan's shirt before she spins on her heel and exits the room without another word.

* * *

**Later That Night **

The dark room is filled with heavy air and panting breaths as Casey sits atop her wife, straddling her while they are coming down from their shared high. "Can you believe, it's been this long since we've had sex?" she whispers with a small giggle before resting their foreheads against each other. "God, that was amazing."

"You're gorgeous." Alex murmurs in response as she reaches up and tucks a strand of crimson hair behind her wife's ear. Her hand falters and begins to shake as her wave of guilt practically stabs her in the chest, causing her breathing to hitch.

Noticing this, Casey tilts her head in genuine concern. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just…thinking." Alex answers quietly as she lets her head fall against the pillows as she stares up at the dark ceiling.

"Baby, please don't think so much." Casey says with a quiet sigh. "You tend to get stressed out when you think too much. And isn't that the reason that'll we're here? So we'll get to relax as a family?"

"Yeah…"

**Flashback **

Casey shoves her books in her locker as she laughs at something her friends share with her. She can honestly say that she's never been more excited for the school week to be over so she and her team can spend time preparing for their summer routine for the all-state cheer competition.

"Hey Case, can you believe that project we just got for stats? What makes them think we're gonna be doing homework over the summer?" one of Casey's squad mates groans with exaggeration.

"Relax Carol, it's optional extra credit." Casey responds with a giggle as she leans against the lockers. "And it's not even that hard. It will probably take you all of two hours to get it done."

Carol whines in response letting her head fall limply against the locker. "But that's two hours of my summer that I'll never get back. It's also two hours that I could be spending doing far more important things; like cheer, or throwing parties. Speaking of parties, are you coming to Jenna's party tomorrow night? Rumor has it it's gonna be full of booze and boys and it's going to be so much fun!"

Casey playfully rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "C'mon Carol, you know I don't like boys." She teases nudging her friend.

"Okay, girls." Carol responds swatting the taller redhead on the shoulder. "But you'll be there right? Oh please say you will, you know I won't have any fun unless you're there."

"Oh, I don't know. I could be spending my time doing far more important things." Casey teases back, using Carol's tone of voice from early which earns her another swat to the soldiers as the two cheerleaders share laughs.

"Excuse me?"

The two girls cease their giggle only to find a timid blonde standing before them with a slightly fearful expression. Casey, who has only seen the other girl around on a few short occasions offers a small smile but it's Carol who speaks up first.

"What do you want, Cabot?" Carol scoffs with a disdainful eye roll.

"Um, a-actually," The blonde in question blinks rapidly as she pulls out her notepad from her satchel. Unfortunately for her, it causes a few of her other items to fall out as well. A heavy blush colors her face as she stoops down to pick up her discarded papers and pencils, all the while mumbling a stream of apologies. Finally managing to put her things back together, she stands up,, silently wishing a hole would open up and swallow her whole as the cheerleaders giggle at her expense. "I'm…well, the newspaper is doing an article on the varsity cheer squad and I was…well, I was wondering if I could get a quote from the both of you."

"Step off, dweeb." Carol snarls viciously.

"Now Carol, there's no reason to be mean." Casey steps in placing a hand on her best friend's shoulder. "We'll be happy to give you a quote. Won't we Carol?"

"That's right." The shorter redhead responds with a sinister smirk spreading across her face before it morphs into one of faux wonder as she taps her finger against her chin. "I think being a varsity cheerleader is super fun because it reminds low life nobodies like Cabot how much of a loser they really are."

Casey sighs quietly and casts a look of disapproval at her friend. "Carol…"

Carol shrugs nonchalantly with a satisfied smirk on her face. "It's true." She responds with another shrug. "I'll see you around Case. Later loser."

"Don't pay her any attention." Casey tries to encourage as she turns back to the blonde who now has he gaze focused on the ground. "What's your name?"

"Alex…"

"Well, Alex, how about you just give me your notepad and I'll write you a quote? That way you won't have to worry about making sure you missed anything."

Alex simply nods her head as she begins to study the writing cheerleader in silence. 'Wow she's gorgeous' she thinks in her head as she takes a much needed deep breath.

Casey glances up briefly as a smile tugs at the corner of her mouth and a small giggle escapes her lips. "Thank you." she responds, giggling more when she sees by the Alex's blush that she hadn't meant to say that out loud. She takes another moment to scribble down her quote before she hands the notepad to its owner. "There you go."

"T-thanks…" Alex stutters as a nervous smile flits across her face. "I'm sorry if I was bothering you, I just really needed a quote."

"No it's fine and like I said, just don't pay any attention to Carol."

"Yeah, I'm used to girls like her picking on me. It's not that big a deal."

"But it still bothers you…"

"Yeah well…can't let things like that bother me if I'm gonna be president someday." Alex responds with her eyes glistening with hope.

Casey quirks a suspicious eyebrow and slightly tilts her head. "President…right." She responds with a tiny hint of skepticism in her voice. "Well anyway, there's your quote."

Alex looks down at her notepad and indeed finds a couple of sentences written out in Casey's curly handwriting. A tiny frown crosses her face when her eyes land on a set of numbers on a line underneath the quote. "What's this number here for?"

"That's my phone number. You know, in case you need to call me about anything." Casey responds with a wink as she closes her locker and slings her bag over her shoulder. "I'll catch you later."

"Um, yeah…b-bye," Alex calls out as she waves her hand before dropping her gaze back to the phone number written in her notepad. "Casey…"

**End Flashback **

Alex's eyes pop open as her body involuntarily draws a gasp from her lips. For a moment she can't see a think, but her eyes soon adjust to the darkness of the room and she remembers where she is. Her attention is then drawn to soft breathing in the room and she looks down at her wife who is slumbering soundly.

She sighs quietly and places a gentle kiss to Casey's bare shoulder before slipping out of bed where she quickly dons a silk robe. With one last glance at her wife, she slips out of the room and further disappears into the darkness of the lodge.

She makes her way into the kitchen where she pours herself a much needed glass of whiskey and downs it quickly. Another sigh is drawn from her lips as her mind flashes images of her time with Natalie, and she pinches the bridge of her nose to get them out of her brain. While on vacation with her family, the last thing she wants to think about her assistant.

Alex shakes her head before she heads out of the kitchen and over to the room where her youngest is sleeping. She quietly slips through the door and crosses the room over to the bed where Aubrey is curled around the blankets with her thumb in her mouth. Chuckling quietly, Alex gently pries the six-year-old's thumb away from her mouth only for it to be replaced a few seconds late. Oh well. It's something that they'll have to work on.

After dropping a kiss to Aubrey's forehead, she exits the room and contemplates checking on Megan. She puts her hand on the handle and freezes as she finds she can't push herself to go in the room. After another moment of contemplation she shakes her head before disappearing back to her own bedroom.

Meanwhile, Megan is standing stock still against the door as she can hear someone creeping around on the other side. Once she is sure they've gone away, she exhales and crosses her room where she flops on the bed and curiously eyes the bottle in her hand.

"Ugh, beer smells disgusting." She mumbles out loud as she pries open the cap and takes a whiff of the liquid. She then shrugs before bringing the bottle to her lips, taking a hearty swig. The coldness of the beer assaults her taste buds before it oozes down her throat, slightly burning on the way down.

She pulls the bottle away from her lips and licks them as she decides how it tastes. It doesn't taste bad per say, but it doesn't exactly taste good either. She decides then maybe it's a taste she's just gonna have to get used to.

**Hm….leave your thoughts? **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hmmm….prepare yourselves. Mwahahahaha.**

**Flashback **

Casey has just made her way back into her room from her early Saturday morning jog. She pulls her earphones away from her ears and removes her arm band that is carrying her phone. Just as she uncaps a bottle of water and takes a healthy swig, her phone begins to ring. Picking it up, she raises a curious eyebrow as she doesn't recognize the number.

"Hello?" she says into the receiver, curious as to who could be calling on a Saturday morning; especially from an unknown number.

"Um, hi, Casey? This is Alex, um…Cabot." The familiar nervous voice responds from the other end of the line.

A smile slowly spreads across Casey's face as she takes a seat on the edge of her bed. "Hey. It's cool to hear from you. What's up?"

"Oh, well, see, I, uh, I was wondering…well, I was wondering if you would like to maybe grab a coffee with me? That is if you aren't busy of course, if you are then I totally understand." Alex rambles on seemingly uncontrollably. "I finished my article for the newspaper and I thought that maybe you'd like to read it? Just to make sure everything's right?"

"Are you really asking me on a date, Alex?"

"A d-date?" Alex squeaks from her end of the call. "I-I-I no! I'm n-not, but wait… I-I mean not that I wouldn't want to go on a d-date with y-you because you're, um, super pretty and-and wait…"

Casey places her hand over her mouth, slightly stifling the giggle that threatens to escape her lips. God, that rambling is so adorable. "Relax Alex, I was only teasing you." she replies calmly as she imagines the blush coloring the blonde's pale cheeks. "I'd be glad to meet you for coffee. I just got home from my run and I need to jump in the shower. How about I meet you at the Starbucks down the street from school in about an hour?"

The shaky deep breath that Alex takes is audible through the receiver before she responds. "An hour...perfect! I'll see you in an hour then. Um, bye."

"Bye." Casey echoes, giggling quietly before she ends the phone call and heads into her bathroom to take her shower.

An hour later, Casey's cherry red mustang convertible pulls into spot in the Starbucks parking lot. She pulls her keys out of the ignition and exits her car, thanking the man who holds the door open for her. As she moves her sunglasses up to the top of her head, her eyes scan the café, a little surprised that she doesn't find Alex already waiting for her. Shrugging it off, she then proceeds to order a caramel frappe before heading off to find a table.

After maybe ten minutes, Casey frowns in brief suspicion as she checks her phone. She is about to call the number Alex had called her from when she hears a loud crash somewhere near the front of the café. She raises her eyes and cringes when she catches sight of Alex picking herself up off the floor from where she had apparently collided with a server who in turn managed to spill all of the orders she was carrying.

"Sorry. Sorry. God, I'm so sorry." Alex rambles uncontrollably as she manages to get to her feet.

The server in question simply glares and rolls her eyes before she stands up as well. She snatches the tray off of the floor as well as the discarded cups, all the while muttering darkly about taking the brunt of the accident since she is now covered in coffee and espresso.

"Sorry…" Alex apologizes again before she spots Casey at a table towards the back of the café. On her way over, she trips over her own feet, just barely catching herself as she gets to the table. "H-hi. Um, sorry I'm late."

"Don't worry about it. I've only been here for about ten minutes." Casey responds with a warm smile before her face morphs into one of concern. "Are you alright? I kinda saw what just happened there."

Alex blushes and awkwardly rubs at the back of her neck before slipping into her seat. "Oh. That. Yeah…I'm kind of accident prone. Half the time I'm not looking at where I'm going." She confesses before shifting awkwardly in her chair. "Um, thanks for coming. I know you had better things you could probably doing right now."

At this, Casey simply shrugs before taking a sip from her frappe. "Not really. I might've gone to the mall later to do a little shopping, but it's not thing big a deal. So, you're article?"

"Oh! Here it is. You can tell me if you like it or not and I'll fix it." The blonde says as she reaches into her bag and pulls out the sheet of paper, passing it across the table. Her breath hitches in her throat when their fingers brush against one another and she immediately snatches her hand back as if she had been burned.

"Everything okay?" Casey asks curiously.

"Fine. Everything's fine."

"Alright just checking…"

It takes Casey all but a few minutes to read through the article. Once she's done, she passes it back to Alex with a well pleased smile on her face. "That's really good. You're a really good writer you know. I think the girls are really gonna like the work you did."

"Thanks." Alex answers with a nervous smile as her eyes light up with adoration. "I'm really glad you like it."

Casey opens her mouth to respond but she finds herself cut off by a voice speaking over hers. She looks up to find Carol, and two of her other friends, Jenna and Nancy all circling around the table, each with their respective orders in hand.

"Ew, Case, what're you doing here with that." Carol sneers with a look of disgust on her face. "Didn't you have anything better to do?"

"Would you chill? She was just here showing me her article she wrote about us for the paper." Casey responds nodding towards the sheet of paper on the table. "You should read it, it's really good."

Carol snatches the paper from Alex's hand and her eyes quickly scan over the words taking in none of it. "I see you didn't use my quote." She points out before she hums and rips the paper in half. "Guess that means it's useless huh? Much like it's writer."

Casey rolls her eyes before shooting her laughing friends a glare. "Carol stop being mean."

"What?" the other redhead responds with an innocent shrug. "I'm only telling the truth. It's not my fault the truth hurts."

"She's right." Jenna chimes in with a sinister grin of her own. "Sometimes it's the naked truth that kills."

"I can't understand why you even want to be seen with her anyway." Nancy adds in, nonchalantly examining her fingernails. "I mean look at her. She looks like she's about to cry."

Sure enough, Alex's face is fire engine red as her eyes shine with unshed tears. As she feels the eyes of the other girls on her, she stands up from her chair, all the while keeping her gaze angled at the floor. "I think I'll just go…" she mumbles, barely managing to look up. "Bye Casey."

"Alex wait." Casey calls out, unable to stop the blonde as she all but sprints out of the café. She groans and rolls her eyes before whirling on her friends who are all snickering respectively. "Seriously guys? Why did you have to be so vicious? What had she done to any of you?"

"Why are you defending her? She's a loser Case; you shouldn't be seen with her."

"Well I think she's nice. She hasn't done anything wrong to anybody and then you guys just showed up and decided to act like jerks."

Carol rolls her eyes before draping an arm over Casey's shoulder. "C'mon Case, I know what we need. We need a nice relaxing shopping trip to help remind you of your social status." She sighs happily. "Then maybe you'll stop associating yourself with the loser."

**End Flashback **

"Honey?"

Alex blinks rapidly and turns to find her wife staring at her with genuine concern. Her hands are gripping the tabletop counter so tightly that her knuckles are turning white and she has no idea how long she's been standing there stationary. "Yeah?"

Casey's eyebrows knit together in concern as she approaches Alex and wraps her arms around her waist. "I was worried about you. You came in here to get coffee and you've been staring at nothing for the past ten minutes."

"Sorry…I was just thinking…" the president murmurs quietly, turning her gaze back to the absentminded spot she was so focused on moments before.

"Just thinking." Casey repeats before she laughs mirthlessly. "Just thinking. I am getting pretty tired of 'just thinking' being an excuse for you. Something is bothering you and as your wife, I'm entitled to know what it is."

"I'm not entitled to share my feelings…I didn't sign up for that."

"Newsflash, Alexandra, you signed up for that when you got down on one knee and asked me to marry you. You signed up for that when you held my hands at that alter and said 'I do'. You signed up for that when I spent twenty plus hours in the delivery room giving birth to your children. I've been here for you since you were nothing. Do you remember that?"

Something flashes in Alex's eyes as she turns around and leans against the counter, crossing her feet at her ankles. She remains absolutely silent as her jaw clenches and unclenches repeatedly and her eyes blaze with an unknown emotion though she somehow manages to remain a statue.

Casey becomes quickly annoyed by her wife's stony expression and she finds her calm and collected nature wavering by the second. "I've stood by you through everything Alex and I really don't ever ask for much. I hardly ask you for anything at all, but when I do ask you for things, it's like I'm pulling teeth. It's like every tiny little sentimental thing I ask you for is such a burden on you. All I want from you is to spend time with your kids as a family and spend time with me as your wife, but here you are, hiding in the kitchen and when you're not hiding, you're not saying anything. I don't ask for much, Alex, I really don't, but why can't you even give me the little things I ask for?"

"Are you done?" Alex asks, her voice low and cool, something Casey was most definitely not expecting.

"What?"

"Are you done?" Alex repeats, stepping forward when she sees her wife falter for words. She gently cups Casey's face in her hands, lightly stroking her cheeks with her thumb. "I love you. Please don't ever doubt that. But sometimes I need to keep things to myself to protect you. I'll tell you when the time is right and when I've sorted everything out in my head but right now…please let me be."

Casey holds her resolve for a moment before it breaks and tears involuntarily leak from her eyes. "I don't want to lose you. I-I'm so tired, Alex. I…I can't keep staying strong for both myself and the kids. I can't keep doing it."

"I know." Alex whispers as she holds her wife close and places a gentle kiss to her wife's forehead as her own shameful tears begin to leak from her eyes. "I know."

**Meanwhile…**

"I just really think you should start looking for her again?"

"Why should I? I have nothing to say to her."

"But what about your son?"

"You mean her son?"

"Kim, he was your son too." Serena says firmly as she pauses and stares hard at her best friend. "I think seeing your son again would do a whole lot for your mood."

Kim rolls her eyes at this before spinning around to face the unnecessarily uppity blonde. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with my mood." She all but growls, relaxing when her own tone rings in her ears. She sighs heavily and runs a hand though her hair before the two of them continue their walk through the mall. "I've looked everyone Serena. She's smart and she knows how to say off the grid and that's what she did. I wasn't a very good mother anyway; maybe I'm just not meant to be in his life."

Serena sighs quietly as she rests her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Kim that's not true. It's never true when people say that. Abbie thinks she's a terrible mother, but Charlie just loves her to death." She explains before pausing. "How old would he be?"

"Seven." Kim answers without hesitation. "His birthday was last Friday."

"Wow. You remember."

"It's kind of hard not to."

"It'll be okay." Serena reassures, giving Kim's shoulder a light squeeze of encouragement. "On a different note, how do you think Alex and Casey are doing?"

At this, Kim snorts as she shakes her head. "I'm hoping better than I'm thinking." She responds honestly. "I hope Alex doesn't end up killing her oldest and then has to find a way to hide the body."

Serena gasps, swatting the brunette in the arm. "Kim that's a horrible thing to say."

"It's horrible because it's true." Kim replies once again, quirking an eyebrow for good measure.

"Yeah well." Serena mumbles. As they two continue to walk, a harsh gasp escapes her lips as they pass a newsstand and she reaches out, involuntarily hitting Kim in the stomach. "Oh god."

Kim winces in pain, her arm flying to her abdomen as she gives her best friend a hard glare. "You're trying to make sure I'll never be able to have kids again." She grumbles as her gaze follows Serena's to the newsstand and her eyes widen drastically. "Oh shit…"

Serena's trembling hand reaches towards People Magazine, but it seemingly doesn't matter considering the Inquirer, New York Times, Washington Post, InTouch Magazine, The National Enquirer, and several others all read the same headlines.

_**'Get the latest exclusive on President Cabot's scandalous affair' **_

_** 'Presidential Infidelities; get the inside scoop on the president's cheating scandal' **_

_** 'First Family, First Problems; is the first family really as solid as we think? Speculators say otherwise' **_

Kim chuckles nervously as she rubs the back of her neck. "Ah, well, you know tabloids…they're always making something up."

"There pictures!" Serena hisses as she flips through the pages of the magazine and turns it around for Kim to see before she starts reading the body paragraph of a newspaper. "Approximately four days ago, People magazine received, from an anonymous source, exclusive images as well as a tape of the President of the United States, Alexandra Cabot engaging in sexual activities with an unknown woman who is most definitely not the First Lady. Other sources say that this occurred while Cabot was away briefly in Boston, Massachusetts, at Harvard University, giving a brief speech in regards to the economy. The photos were taken by an unknown source that appeared to be in a building across from the president's hotel room where the affair took place. People is still trying to confirm the identity of the unknown woman, but many sources say that the woman is in fact, Natalie Webber, the personal assistant to President Cabot. In addition, the president is supposedly on a current family vacation with her wife and two children, but was this really a move for politics prodigy to go into early hiding?"

"Politics prodigy. That's a new one." Kim hums as Serena finishes reading the article.

"Will you prioritize for just one minute?" Serena whispers, putting the newspaper back in the stand. "This is going to be all over the country by tomorrow! Oh god, I can't believe she did this to Casey. Casey's going to be devastated and the kids…"

"Cabot has a lot of cleaning up to do…"

**Uh oh. Leave your thoughts? **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Ah the chapter that you all have been expecting…enjoy!**

Due to an impromptu issue with security clearance at Camp David, Alex and the Naval Commander had collectively agreed that it would be best for her family to return to the White House. Something about the Air Force having to seize a total of three unmarked civilian planes for flying over the Camp David area doesn't sit right with her and meant much to her wife's dismay, that their family vacation must be cut short. Not that it was going all that great anyway.

Alex keeps a stony expression as she makes her way towards her office, though she can feel the eyes of the agents lingering on her more than normal. She pauses in one of the corridors and abruptly turns towards an agent who quickly averts his eyes upon meeting her steely gaze.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Alex questions rhetorically and a little venomously.

"N-no, Ma'am." The agent replies, averting his eyes further to the floor as her face turns a light shade of pink.

Alex however, simply rolls her eyes in response before disappearing into her office. She sighs heavily and flicks on the light before making her way over to her desk where she slumps in her desk and drops her head heavily into her hands. She knows that she should probably check her email but she just can't bring herself to get into the mindset of work. At least, not right now.

**Later **

Megan sighs quietly to herself as she flops haphazardly on her bed. She pulls her tablet from her drawer and logs in, desperately missing her connection to the internet that she didn't have while she was gone those dreadful two and a half days. As she logs into her internet browser, her heart screeches to a halt when she sees the news headline on .

"No way." She whispers, as he shaky fingers click on the article. Her eyes widen to the size of baseballs as her eyes scan through the news report and when she comes across the photos, she finds herself tossing her tablet to the other end of her bed. She crawls towards the head of her bed and wraps her arms tightly around her knees as her ragged breathing becomes shakier and shakier by the moment. Only is she drawn from her near hysterics when there is a gentle knock at her door. "C-come…come in."

Casey pokes her head through the door before casually slipping through, softly closing the door behind her. "I was wondering if we could chat for a minute." She speaks softly, pausing when she takes in her daughter's paler than normal complexion. "Is something wrong?"

Megan responds by shaking her head vigorously, continuing on when she realizes that a silent response isn't going to be enough for her mom. "Nothing's…wrong. I just…nothing." She rambles, casually slipping her tablet underneath her pillow as she takes a shaky deep breath. "You wanted to talk?"

"I did." Casey confirms as she sits on the edge of the bed near Megan. "I know that our family vacation didn't go exactly as I had planned or as I had hoped it would."

"Yeah, go figure." Megan snorts in response with her typical eye roll.

"But…I would like for us to try again in a different way."

"Different way? Different way how?"

This time, it's Casey who takes a deep breath as she finds herself nervously beginning to wring her hands. "I think…I think it would be best for both you and your mother if you both spend some time with each other…alone."

Megan's eyes wide at this before she vigorously shakes her head in defiance. "What?! No way! There's no way I'm going anywhere with her alone. I hate her."

"Megan don't say that." Casey sighs heavily as she drags her hands through her hair. "Hate is a very strong word."

"Well I know how I feel about her. I hate her, Mom. I swear I do. I can't even imagine why you married." Megan trails off as she crosses her arms tightly and looks away.

Casey sighs quietly before sadly shaking her head. "She was different once…she wasn't this, this robotic machine that was always so focused on work. When you were a baby she used to spend so much time with you. After I came home from the hospital, I would wake up in the middle of the night and she would just be holding you, reading to you, feeding you…she was different."

"Then why does she hate us now?" Megan asks sadly. "If she was so different then, why does she hate us? Why does she hate me?"

"She doesn't hate you Megan. Alex…she loves you very much."

"No she doesn't!"

"She might have a hard time showing it sometimes, but she really loves you. She cares about her family."

"If she cared so much about her family then why is everyone saying she was with someone else?!" Megan shouts, immediately placing her hand over her mouth as her eyes widen.

Casey's face contorts into a frown of genuine confusion. "What?"

"Nothing…."

"Megan Elizabeth Cabot, don't you dare lie to me. What are you talking about?"

Megan mentally swears at herself for saying something before she slowly inches forward and slides her iPad from under her pillow. She takes a deep breath before her shaky hands hand the device over to her mother. "I-I saw this on the internet…"

Casey blinks slowly before she slowly takes the tablet into her hands. As soon as her eyes run across the website's headline, she can practically hear her heart thumping loudly in her ears right before it shatters into a thousand tiny pieces.

_**"It has been in fact confirmed that the mystery woman involved in the president's cheating scandal is in fact her personal assistant, Natalie Webber. Sources have said that Miss Webber did accompany the president to her Boston hotel room, where the two allegedly had sex which was later confirmed by the photos and video recording. It is unclear on whether or not the First Lady is aware of President Cabot's affair, but neither have released on the statement. Press have also been unable to get into contact with Miss Webber to get her input on the matter' **_

A strangled sob escapes Casey's lips before her hand flies to her mouth for she is determined not to cry in front of her child. As she tries to search through the pages for anything that reads that this is a joke, the shards of her heart continue to gradually sink to the pit of her stomach.

"Mom…?" Megan whispers cautiously as she reaches out to gently rest her hand on her mother's shoulder.

Casey's hands begin to tremble uncontrollably as she sets the iPad on the bed and abruptly stands to her feet. "Pack your things." She speaks shakily as she quickly storms out of the room, her tears falling as soon as she gets into the corridor.

Alex groans and rubs her temples with her fingers, attempting to will away her oncoming headache. She is still slightly questioning the random planes that flew over a secure military area, but she is sure that the F-15 pilots and any other military personal have gotten the entire situation under control.

She is about to log in to her computer to check through her email when the door to her office bangs open and then slams shut once again, to reveal her wife who is red faced and red eyed as if she has been crying.

"Honey? What's wrong?" she questions with genuine concern as she quickly makes her way around her desk. She is completely taken of guard, however, when she is met with a harsh stinging slap across her face. "Shit! Casey, what the hell?"

"You bitch!" Casey all but yells before she slaps the blonde across the face another time. "How could you do this?! How?!"

"Casey, I don't-ow-I really don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh you know damn well what I'm talking about! All this time, I've stood by you through everything! I've stood by you since we were juniors in high school! I stood by you in college, when you became senator, I stood by you during your entire presidential campaign. God forbid, Alex, I gave birth to your children! And this is how you repay me? By sneaking around behind my back and fucking your assistant!?"

Alex pales at the accusation and she looks as if she has seen a ghost. "Casey…" she begins, her voice trailing off as she realizes she has no words. "Casey I…"

"Look at you! You've lied so much you can't even bring yourself to do it again! Why did you do it Alex? Why?"

"I don't know why I did it. It just…it just kind of happened and I know that's not an excuse but I…I don't have an explanation."

"If you didn't love me anymore then I would understand that if you had just told me, but the fact that you thought cheating on me would make it all better…I trusted you! I trusted you and I gave you my heart and you crushed it! Did you even stop to think about how your decision would affect me? What about the girls, Alex? Did you ever think about them? This affects them too! "

Alex sighs heavily as she roughly rakes her fingers through her hair. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm so sorry. How…how did you find out?"

Casey snorts bitterly as she gestures wildly towards nothing in particular. "It's all over the news, Alex! Magazines, the internet, television; it's everywhere! Was it just that one time?"

"Casey…sweetheart."

"No. Don't you dare call me that right now. Answer me. Was it just that one time…"

Alex hangs her head shamefully before she sighs for the second time in five minutes. "It wasn't…" she admits shamefully.

Casey falls completely silent as she shakes her head. "You are probably the most selfish person I have ever met and right now, I'm ashamed over the fact that I even said yes when you proposed."

The words practically stab Alex in the chest as she fights to keep her own tears at bay. "Please don't say that. It was a mistake, and I'll do anything within my power to fix it."

"I'm done giving you chances! I'm done!" Casey exclaims as she slips her wedding ring off her finger and tosses it to the floor at the blonde's feet. "I can't do this anymore Alex and I can't let you keep doing it to the girls. It's over."

"Casey no…don't…don't say that." Alex pleads as she squats down to pick up the ring. "Take your ring Casey. We'll…we'll work this out."

"Oh, so now you're going to act like you care? Now that I'm leaving you, you're going to pretend you actually care about me?"

"No! No, Casey, no. You can't leave. I-I need you."

"I'm tired Alex. I'm so, so tired. I can't keep doing this. I'm done." And with that, Casey spins on her heel and storms out of the office without risking to look back.

Alex stands completely motionless in the middle of her office staring at the multi-diamond encrusted ring resting in her palm. Her heart thuds loudly in her ears as a mantra in her head keeps repeating over and over again that this is a hellish nightmare she's going to wake up from any moment. Her senses finally kick in and she bolts from her office, practically running down the hall as she tries to catch up to her wife.

When she finds her, she finds her already ushering her two daughters down the hall. "Casey! What are you doing!?"

"We're leaving Alex! I won't let you do this to them anymore!" Casey shouts back, protectively shielding her kids.

"Casey, c'mon…you can't take my kids."

"Your kids? Now you consider them to be your kids?! Tell me Alex, do you even know anything about them? Do you know that they think that you hate them!?"

"I don't…I don't hate them. Casey please. Don't do this. Just stay so we can work things out." Alex pleads, lightly grabbing a hold of her wife's arm. "Please."

Casey immediately rips herself from the grasp and shoves Alex away. "Don't you even think about touching me right now. Just…just go back to your job and your little fuck toy. Now that you don't have a burden, you'll get what you always wanted." She trails off sadly before grabbing her daughters' hands. "Let's go, girls…"

Alex can only stand still as she puts her hands over her mouth. "Oh god," she whispers as she walks backwards until her back is against a wall before she sinks to the floor. "Oh god what have I done…"

* * *

Abbie is drawn from her peaceful slumber by a random noise filtering into her bedroom. She is sure that the random noise has stopped when she hears it once again, her half-conscious state making it nearly impossible to pinpoint what it is exactly. She is about to be on her way back to sleep when her wife next to her shifts, causing her to wake once again.

"Baby, there's someone at the door." Serena grumbles, her voice laced with sleep.

"I know…" Abbie replies, her voice huskier than normal for being slightly sleep deprived. "Maybe if we pretend we're not home, they'll go away."

Serena sleepily nudges her wife in the ribs, causing her to squeak quietly from the pain. "Go answer the door, Abigail. It might be important."

Abbie grunts in displease before she slips her arms from around Serena's waist and sits up in bed. "Fine..." she mutters, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she manages to get to her feet. She reaches into her end table and grabs her gun before silently slipping out of her bedroom.

"Damnit, Charlotte." She swears under her breath as she stubs her foot on something her daughter had left out in the dark apartment.

As she makes her way to the door, she grips her gun tighter in her hand before pulling the door open, only halfway surprised to find Casey standing in the doorway. Ever since she had seen the news, she had expected the redhead to show up, she just didn't know when. It's when she notices Aubrey eying her with minimal fear that she quickly puts her gun behind her back.

"I-I'm sorry for showing up like this…" Casey whispers hanging her head. "We needed a place to go and I really didn't want to stay at a hotel because of the press…"

"It's completely alright." Abbie responds as she ushers the family inside. "C'mon. I'll prepare the guest room for you and Aubrey and I'll set Megan up in Charlie's room."

"Thanks…" Casey responds quietly as she mentally wonders what's next for her broken family.

**What's next? Leave your thoughts? **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: This is probably the last high school flashback that I'm going to use for them on this story, but it definitely won't be the last flashback all together. I kind of used this chapter as a filler to set up for something….maybe…hope you enjoy!**

**Flashback **

Alex nervously twiddles her thumbs as she stands in line at the local florist. She eyes the single red rose with adoration and she has to take a few shaky deep breaths to calm her beating heart. When it's her turn in line, she steps up to the counter and places the long stemmed beauty in front of the florist.

"Only one?" the slightly elderly woman inquires with a warm grin.

"Yes Ma'am." Alex replies with a nervous smile as she shakily nods her head. "I uh, I don't want to scare her away or anything by coming on too strong."

At this, the florist's grin turns into a full blown smile as she brings up the price for the flower. "Young love is such a beautiful thing, dear. That will be four dollars and fifty cents."

Alex digs into her pocket and places a ten dollar bill on the counter, sliding it over to the florist. She smiles politely when the woman returns her change and gently hands over her purchase. "Thank you, Ma'am."

"You're welcome, dear. Best of luck to you." The older woman responds with a wink before she begins to bring up the purchases of her next customer.

"You're not really that special, but maybe she'll like you anyway." Alex murmurs to the flower, gently clutching it in both of her hands as she makes the short walk to Casey's house.

Once she gets there, she immediately recognizes the redhead's convertible in the driveway right before she lets out a sigh of relief. One of her major fears was that of Casey not being home, which meant she would have had to put it off for another day, and by her own standards, she's put it off long enough.

Making her way up the steps, Alex hesitates for a moment before she rings the doorbell. The anticipation for the answer is basically killing her as she finds herself shuffling her feet repeatedly as her heart pounds heavily out of her chest.

About a minute or so later, Casey appears at the doorway with a towel around her neck as she dries the water from her hair. Alex then feels her throat go completely dry as she tries to keep her eyes from roaming over the redhead's pink bikini clad bottom. It isn't until she realizes that her name is being said that she is snapped back to reality.

"Oh, um, sorry was I…interrupting?" the blonde questions as she blushes a scarlet red, equivalent to the color of the rose, whose stem she is probably crushing in her hand.

"No, you weren't. I was just out back swimming but it's fine. You're lucky I even heard the doorbell." Casey responds with a giggle before she steps aside to let Alex in her house. She leads the way through the foyer where she pauses in the living room before spinning around with a curious smile. "What's up?"

Alex's mouth hangs open lamely for a moment before she ducks her head and shuffles her feet once more. "Um…well…there is something I kinda wanted to ask you."

"Okay…" Casey responds, drawing out the word as she quirks an eyebrow and folds her arms. "Shoot."

"Okay." Alex echoes, taking a much needed deep breath before she begins. "Casey, well, it's been nice getting to know you as a friend. You're a really cool person and we actually have a lot in common. Not to mention, you're actually nice to me which isn't really something that I get from a lot of people. I guess, what I'm trying to say is that I really like you. You're smart, and funny, and really pretty and I was wondering well…would you maybe want to go to Prom? W-with me?"

At this, Casey raises both of her eyebrows, clearly taken off guard as she stares at the long stemmed rose being offered to her by a shaky hand. "You're asking me to Prom?"

Alex feels her heart sink briefly before she nods her head shakily, feeling her palms becoming sweatier and sweatier by the minute. "Um, yeah…if someone already asked you, that's totally okay, or if you just don't want to go with me, that's okay too. You can still keep the flower though if you want…I picked it because well it reminded me of you. And…that sounded a lot better in my head. You can just forget I said that. Actually, forget I asked…I think I'll just go home. Sorry for wasting your time."

"Will you wait a second?" Casey says, giggling quietly as she grabs a hold of the blonde's wrist and pulls her back into the living room. "You didn't even give me a chance to properly respond. I was just a little shocked that you asked. No offense Alex, but you don't really seem like the kind of person who goes to things like Prom, let alone ask someone to go with you."

"You're right. I don't." Alex responds with a nervous laugh as she shoves her hands into her pockets. "So…would you like to go with me?"

Casey grins as she nods her head in response. "I would love to go to Prom with you."

Alex's eyes light up with amazement as a grin stretches wide across her face. "Great! I mean…yeah, that's great."

"Mhm." Casey hums as she brings the rose to her nose, inhaling it's scent. "It smells amazing. Did it's smell remind you of me too?"

"I guess in a way." Alex responds with an awkward chuckle as she shrugs. "I really wasn't sure how to ask…sorry I'm not that creative."

"You did fine." Casey answers, leaning forward to place a lingering kiss on the blonde's cheek. "I'll be looking forward to it."

**End Flashback**

"Serena, you didn't have to cook for us." Casey all but groans as she finds herself seated around the well occupied dining room table.

"Nonsense. You're a guest, it's my job to be accommodating." Serena responds as she continues to move about the kitchen at lightening fast speed; something typical for her morning routine.

Casey rolls her eyes at her best friend before she shakes her head. "Well you at least could have let me help you." she retorts, shaking her head once again when the blonde in question places three strips of bacon on each of their plates.

From over at the island counter, Abbie chuckles into her coffee mug and shakes her head. "You should be glad you're around to witness a once in a life time occurrence. She never cooks like this when it's just us around." She quips, spluttering into the cup when she receives a harsh pinch in the ribs and a glare from her wife. "What? I'm just saying…"

"You're always just saying." Serena replies with an eye roll before she moves about to serve up the pancakes. "I cook for you all the time, Abigail. Don't act like I don't."

"Gee, what's with the 'Abigail'? That's like the second time you've used that in the past six hours."

"Force of habit I suppose."

Casey can't help the small, sad smile that tugs at the corner of her lips as she watches the exchange between her friends as a couple. There is a tugging at her heart as she recalls that she and Alex once shared a playful banter like that, but she can't exactly recall when that specific time was or where it went.

"Mommy, can you help?" Aubrey tugs on her mom's shirt as she motions towards the pancakes on her plate.

"Sure." Casey responds, leaning over to cut her daughter's food into smaller pieces. She looks over at Megan who is slumping in her chair all the while staring absentmindedly at her plate. "Megan…eat your breakfast."

"I'm not hungry." The blonde haired teen responds, with a minute shake of her head.

"Aw, c'mon, I know I may not be a Rachel Ray, but my cooking can't be that bad." Serena jokes, attempting to lighten the moment as she tilts her head in concern. "Would you like something else?"

"No thanks…I'm just not hungry." Megan responds blandly as she seemingly sinks lower in her chair.

Serena's eyebrows knit into concern, and she glances at Charlie who simply shrugs in response, silently stating that she doesn't exactly know what's going on, therefore she can't possibly be of any help.

"Well, alright. Well how about I wrap up your food for you just in case you get hungry and wanted it a little later." Serena states, giving Megan's shoulder a light squeeze before taking the plate from the table.

"Babe, I think I'm gonna head out." Abbie says from the island counter as she clips her phone onto her belt.

Serena nods as she approaches her wife and begins straightening and smoothing the lapels of her blazer, dusting off any lint she finds. "Alright. Do you have everything?"

The brunette nods as she slides her gun into its holster. "Everything I think I'm gonna need." She pauses, looking a bit sheepish as Aubrey slowly approaches her and hands over her badge. "Or maybe not. Thanks kiddo." She responds, ruffling Aubrey's hair before taking note of the curious look given to her by her wife. "She, ah, she had trouble sleeping last night. I gave her my badge, since she's really fascinated with it, and told her that the eagle on it would keep her safe."

"And you think you're a terrible mother." Serena hums, sharing a brief Eskimo kiss with the taller woman before she glances back at her best friend at the table and sighs. "Do you think Casey's going to be alright?"

"She'll need a little time, I would guess." Abbie responds with a solemn shrug.

"I know. I'm just worried about what will happen if the press and the media find out that she's here."

"Well, she has nothing to worry about. As long as I'm here, no one will be getting through to her. Ya know, kind of a badass Secret Agent and all that."

Serena rolls her eyes at this once again before she absentmindedly begins grooming Abbie's jacket. "Right. You be careful out there." She says firmly before stealing a quick but meaningful kiss. "I love you."

"Love you too." The agent responds, before she walks over to the table and drops a kiss to Charlie's head. "Be good, be nice, don't get in trouble."

"Yeah, yeah." Charlie responds, waving goodbye to her mother before turning her attention back to her now empty plate. "Mom, I'm done eating; can Megan and I go to my room?"

"Sure." Serena relents, watching the two teens as they disappear out of the kitchen. She turns back to Aubrey who seems to also be done and fidgeting in her chair. "Aub, how about you go watch some cartoons in the living room, while Mommy and I have a talk, yeah?"

Aubrey looks to her mother for approval before she slips out of her chair and scurries into the living room where she plops down in front of the television to begin looking for what Casey has dubbed, 'the ridiculous talking cheese that lives in a fruit'.

Serena places the dirty dishes in the sink before she takes a seat next to her friend where she lightly takes her hand. "The kids are out of the room…you don't have to pretend anymore." She murmurs softly, giving that hand a squeeze."

It takes all of three seconds for Casey's resolve to shatter as she finds herself breaking down into silent sobs. "Serena I-…I don't know what I'm going to do." she whimpers, bringing a napkin to her eyes to wipe away the vicious onslaught of tears. "I love her so much and I trusted her when she told me nothing was wrong. Is this my fault? Is it my fault for not seeing that something really was wrong?"

"Casey, none of this is your fault."

"But what if it is? Natalie is probably a good ten years younger than I am. Is that what it is? Am I just old, and gross and useless now?"

"Cassandra, thirty seven is hardly even old. At least it's not by my standards because I'm older than that." Serena says firmly. "What Alex did to you is horrible, especially after everything that you've done for her. But you can't let this ruin you. It's okay to be devastated for a while, but then what you've got to do is get right back up there and show her who you are. Make her realize what she's lost."

Casey sniffles and wipes at her eyes as she looks at Serena through her tears. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean torture her. Make her suffer for what she's done to you." the blonde replies, with a vengeful tone in her voice.

"But…how am I supposed to do that?"

"Just trust me."

**Leave your feedback?**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Another flashback opener for you guys. Enjoy!**

**Flashback **

"I can't believe you actually begged me to come to the aquarium with you." Casey chuckles quietly as she shakes her head in slight disbelief, though there is a smile tugging at her lips.

"I thought it would be fun." Alex responds with a seemingly innocent smirk as she shrugs her shoulders before she loops their arms together. "Don't tell me you, Casey Novak, queen of adventure, is complaining about being at the aquarium; one of the coolest places on earth."

Casey rolls her eyes before she intentionally nudges her girlfriend with her shoulder. "Well you don't have to be sarcastic about it." She chides, her eyes widening when she spots the large tank housing the sea turtles. "Oh gosh, Alex, look! They're so big!"

Alex grins and shakes her head, marveling at how easily distract Casey can become within a span of thirty seconds. It's not so much something that bothers her as it is a trait that she finds to be utterly adorable.

"Look Baby, a little one." Casey coos as she presses her hand against the glass, waving at the miniature sea turtle that seems to be utterly fascinated by her human form on the other side. "Look, Alex! There are a bunch of little ones! They're so cute!"

"I take it you don't mind our little trip to the aquarium then." The blonde states with a well knowing smirk only for it to slightly falter when she receives a swat to her shoulder. "Hey! No bullying in front of the fish."

"They aren't fish, Alexandra. They're turtles."

"Oh, well excuse me."

Casey waves goodbye to the sea turtles before she spins around and grabs her girlfriend's hand, eagerly dragging her off to another area of the aquarium. They come to an exhibit that houses the shark and Casey gasps quietly as she clutches Alex's arm tighter.

Alex raises an eyebrow and looks to Casey who is gazing around in amazement. "You're not afraid of sharks, are you?"

"No, it's not that. Well…I have a confession. This is my first time going to an aquarium." Casey admits, hanging her head sheepishly.

"Wow, really? That's…that's wow." Alex responds with a rather nervous chuckle before she clears her throat and manages a smile. "Well, I'm really glad that I got to share this first time experience with you."

"This isn't the only first time experience we've shared together." Casey purrs suggestively, giggling when she sees the rapid fire blush immediately spread down to Alex's neck. She lifts her head and gives her lover a quick peck on the lips before dragging her over to a shark tank. "Wow. They're so much bigger up close than they look on television."

"I think they look pretty big on television." Alex replies as she nervously rubs at the back of her neck. Yes between her and the shark stands about a five inch thick wall of high unbreakable glass, but that doesn't mean she has to be comfortable with it. She swears that the beastly creature is giving her the stink eye as it swims back and forth.

"H-hey Babe, how about we…go elsewhere." Alex speaks up, nervously clearing her throat when she sees Casey attempting to tap on the glass. "How about we don't tap on the glass."

"Oh, would you relax? It's not like anything was gonna happy."

"Well, you never know. And they looked kinda hungry. Speaking of hungry, how about we grab a little lunch before we continue?"

After spending an hour or so eating in the aquarium restaurant, Alex finds herself being practically dragged all over the facility by Casey's excitement. They've watched the sea otter show, they've touched the sting rays, they've fed the penguins; well, Casey fed the penguins while Alex kind of stood off to the side and attempted not to get bitten again.

"Alex, he just wanted to be your friend." Casey coos, placing a kiss to the back of Alex's hand.

"Yeah well…I don't befriend penguins." Alex mumbles begrudgingly as she stares down at her bandaged hand from her unfortunate penguin encounter. As they are walking through another exhibit, she takes a deep breath and gives her lover's hand a tug in a new direction. "C'mon, there's something I wanna show you."

Casey is about to protest in question, but all words die on her lips as they enter a new dome shaped exhibit that is entirely a fish tank. The entire room is lit brightly from the reflecting waters, colorful fish, and varieties of marine vegetation.

"Alex, it's beautiful." Casey whispers as she slowly drops Alex's hand and stares at the fish swimming above and around her. "I've never seen so many fish all in one place."

"Yeah, I know…really beautiful." Alex whispers, though she is not talking about the fish as her gaze continues to linger on her beautiful girlfriend. Her heart begins to thump loudly in her chest, stopping briefly when Casey spins around and freezes, only for it to rapidly start up a few moments later.

Casey spins around to examine the giant tank, pausing when she spots two divers on the other side of the room, treading underneath the water. As she nears the other side of the room, she tilts her head in genuine curiosity when she realizes that they are both holding a large banner. As she comes to a stop in front of the tank, all of her breath is sucked from her lungs when she makes out the words on the banner.

_**'Casey Novak, will you marry me?' **_

Casey gasps and she brings her hand to cover her mouth before she spins around to find Alex down on one knee, kneeling before her. "A-Alex?"

"I-I well, I'm surprised you didn't notice that I was freaking out about this since yesterday." Alex begins with a nervous laugh before taking a much needed deep breath. "Casey, I love you more than I've loved anything or anyone in my entire life. Every moment I spend with you is an adventure whether you're trying to get me to eat some foreign food, or I'm taking you to the aquarium for the first time. Every moment I spend with you is another moment that I fall deeper and deeper in love with you and I'm still falling because the bottom doesn't seem to be anywhere in sight, but that doesn't matter because I never want to stop falling in love with you. I see myself spending the rest of my life with you, loving you, having a family with you, and all I can do is hope that you would want the same thing with me. That being said," the blonde pauses a she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a blue velvet colored box before she opens it, presenting her lover with the extravagant piece of jewelry. "Cassandra Michelle Novak, will you make me the happiest woman in the world by becoming my wife?"

By now, Casey has tears flowing freely down her cheeks and she looks up to see that they have attracted quite the crowd. She chokes out a laugh and smiles through her tears before she manages to nod. "Yes," she whispers before nodding her head more vigorously. "God yes!"

Alex grins widely as her shaky hands slip the ring on Casey's finger before she stands up and pulls the redhead into a loving, passionate kiss. She grins into the kiss when applause and cheers erupts around them, and she pulls away to find Casey's cheeks are still wet with tears.

"I love you so much." She whispers, capturing Casey's lips once more in a loving kiss.

Casey giggles and pulls away as she turns back to the tank to find the divers are now holding a poster that reads;

_** 'She said yes!'**_

"I see you've gotten a little more creative since high school." Casey grins, wrapping her arms tightly around her new fiancée.

Alex grins before she places a lingering kiss to the redhead's cheek. "You'd be surprised at what a few years can do for me."

**End Flashback **

Alex sits at her desk, listening to the silences of her office. Her eyes are red and bloodshot as she stares painfully at Casey's wedding ring that's sitting on her desk in front of her. A heavy sigh escapes her lips as she picks up the ring, along with her cell phone before she leans back in her chair, placing the phone to her ear.

"Come on, Casey…" she mumbles, listening to the phone continue to ring. After about the seventh ring, the call goes to voicemail where she hangs up immediately and tosses her phone on her desk. She nervously chews her thumbnail for a tense moment before she picks up the phone and dials again, this time, waiting for it to go to voicemail.

"Case, listen, I…I know I messed up, okay? I know I messed up big time and words cannot explain how sorry I am. Sitting here staring at your ring, knowing you don't have it on, is killing me Casey. I just…I just want to have the chance to talk to you so I can make things right. If you just give me a chance, I swear I'll make it better. I just need you to give me a chance. Please call me back. Please."

Alex sighs heavily once again before she tosses her phone on her desk. She looks up to find that her assistant has now entered her office and is staring at her fearfully. Casting her eyes down towards her desk, Alex pulls a stack of papers into her line of vision to at least look like she's working. "Why are you here."

Natalie's mouth falls open in response before she snaps it shut, realizing she doesn't know what to say right away. "I…" she begins, having to take a deep breath when her voice fails her. "Are you firing me?"

"Would you like me to?" Alex retorts smoothly, trying to keep her face as clear and emotionless as possible. "If you would like to quit, you can, if you don't, you can do that also. It's completely up to you."

"I'm being harassed." Natalie blurts, her hands beginning to shake uncontrollably from the nerves. "By the media. There are always camera and microphones following me, and they constantly sit outside my house. I-I can't go anywhere without them being there."

"And what do you want me to do about it, Natalie?"

"I—I don't know? Help me? Somehow? Please, I…I can't live my life like this. This isn't the kind of thing where I can just move towns. You're the president, and the entire country knows you had an affair and the entire country knows you had an affair with me. Do you know what people are calling me now? 'The Presidential Mistress', do you know how that's making me feel?"

Alex squeezes her eyes shut before she stands up from her desk and folds her arms tightly. "Look, Natalie, I have a lot to worry about right now, alright? This," she pauses as she gestures her hands to nothing in particular. "I can't take care of this right now. My wife left yesterday and she took my kids with her without telling me where she's going. I really need to work on finding where they are.

"I thought…" Natalie trails off as she drops her gaze to the floor before she shakes her head. "I-I, I thought…I thought you cared about me."

"You're my assistant Natalie, of course I care for your wellbeing." Alex responds with another heavy sigh. "But right now I really have to figure out where my family is. I'm sorry that this happened like this and believe me, no one is more embarrassed than I am right now. I understand you're having issues, but right now, I can't help you."

"Alex, I really-"

"Please! Not now!" Alex screams, before her voice drops down to a pathetic whisper. "Not now. I can't…I can't think about anything else right now."

Natalie falls silent before she nods her head in comprehension. She steps forward and places a gentle kiss to the taller woman's cheek before she gives her a small smile and exits the office.

Approximately thirty seconds after Natalie closes the door, Alex breaks down completely, shout a plethora of swear words as she throws random things about her office, some breaking and some falling limply against the wall. She crumples in the center of the hectic mess before her body racks itself with heavy sobs, and she feels like her world is imploding around her.

* * *

Meanwhile, Abbie's eyebrows knit into concern as she listens to the catastrophe from the other side of the door. She contemplates going inside, only to decide against it when she hears Alex break down and begin to cry.

As she is about to continue on her patrol, her phone vibrates in her pocket. She pulls the device from her pocket, grinning when she sees her wife's smiling face staring back at her. "Hey Babe, what's up?"

"Nothing." Serena responds, pausing before she continues on. "Okay there is something. I want to take the kids out of the house but Casey refuses to leave unless there's someone with us."

"Someone?"

"Someone like you."

Abbie groans as she tilts her head back and sighs. "Baby, I'm at work…"

"I know, but it's for Casey. Can't just you and a friend team up and come keep us coming for a while? Besides, you'll still technically be doing your job, she is the First Lady after all."

"Yeah but for how much longer?"

Abbie can practically hear Serena's eye roll from the other end of the line. "Abbie, please? I don't ever ask a lot so please?"

"Fine." Abbie relents, dragging a hand through her hair. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, so much! Love you!"

"Love you too." The agent groans, ending the call before she clips her phone back to her belt. She nervously chews the inside of her cheek as she attempts to come up with her next plan of action all the while pacing the middle of the corridor. Just as she is about to give up hope on a plan and call Serena back, a smile spreads across her face as she spots a familiar colleague who she can damn near rope into anything.

"Hey Jareau, come here a minute!"

**Don't jump to conclusions just yet. Leave your thoughts! **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hmm…this chapter though…mwahaha. Enjoy!**

**Flashback**

Casey allows for a rather shaky breath to escape her lips as she sits cross legged on the bed. She continues to nervously wring her hands as she glances at the clock once more and heaves an aggravated sigh as she sees that she has approximately four more minutes that she has to wait, which is by far the longest four minute that she's ever had to experience in her life.

To help move time along, she allows her mind to wander to her wife who is down the hall busying herself with work. A small giggle escapes her lips at how hard and dedicated Alex is to her job, which more often than not leaves the blonde feeling guilty for having to work so much. But Casey doesn't mind. In fact, it's one of Alex's more redeeming qualities that she cares so much about other people and that's most definitely one of the reasons that they had gotten married in the first place.

She is rudely drawn from her day dream by the annoying alarm from her phone, but her heart rate increases gradually when she realizes what that means. Unfolding herself from her spot in the center of the bed, Casey steadily glides into the adjoined bathroom from their bedroom and peers inside, her gaze immediately zeroing in on the three objects sitting on the counter.

Casey slowly, and rather nervously makes her way over to the counter before she hesitantly peers down at the objects, fearing disappointment, but at the same time, trying to keep her hopes from going too high. After all, this is their fourth and possibly last try.

Her heart stops and she sucks in a breath when all three of the objects give her an identical result, and she barely manages to contain a squeal of excitement as she picks up the last, and probably most accurate one to peer at it closer, marveling in the single digital word displayed on the screen.

"Alex!" Casey exclaims as she quickly spins around and sprints from the bedroom. She moves quickly down the hall towards her wife's home office and hastily opens the door without bothering to knock.

Alex is thoroughly startled by the sudden intrusion and she ends up dropping her pen in the process as she looks up in fear. "Casey? What's wrong? Is something wrong? Are you hurt?" she rambles hastily, standing from her chair as she makes her way over to her wife to give the redhead closer examination.

Casey bites down on her bottom lip as she shakes her head. "No." she responds before she holds up the object in hand. "It worked Alex. I'm pregnant."

"Pregnant?" Alex repeats dumbly as she takes the pregnancy test from her wife's hand and looks at the single most important word in her life right now.

Positive.

"You're pregnant." The blonde repeats, the shock not having quite settled in yet. "You're pregnant! Oh my god! You're pregnant!"

Casey chuckles quietly as she nods her head and allows the taller woman to pull her into a tight hug. "That's right, honey…we're having a baby."

"A baby." Alex repeats with a happy sigh as she kneels and nuzzles her wife's stomach. "We're having a baby. A baby of our own. We…we're gonna be a family, Case. Oh my god…after so many times…we're having a baby!"

"I take it that you're excited then." Casey responds with another chuckle as she runs her hands through her lover's silky blonde hair.

"A baby! We're having a baby!" Alex repeats for probably the hundredth time before something dawns on her. "Oh god Casey, that means we're gonna be parents."

"Well…yes, that's usually what that means, Honey."

"Parents…" Alex whispers before pressing her lips to her wife's stomach. "Hello, in there. I know you're probably not much of anything right now, but I'm your Momma. I just wanted to be one of the first people to let you know that your Mommy and I are really looking forward to meeting you when it's time for you to come out. I just wanted to let you know that I promise to be the best Momma that anyone has ever had. Ever."

**End Flashback **

"I made a promise to them…to all of them and I couldn't keep it." Alex whispers brokenly before she looks up at the brunette sitting across from her. "I didn't keep my promises…any of them."

"Then why did you do it?" Kim responds firmly, her comment coming out as half a statement and half a question, giving it all the more edge to cut through Alex like butter.

Sighing heavily, Alex shakes her head before she runs her hands through her hair, gripping it tightly with malice. "I…I don't know why I did it. I needed something different and I thought…I thought…"

"You thought your assistant would supply that for you." the speaker returns as she folds her arms before allow a sigh to escape her lips. "Listen, Alex, I'm not here to judge you and I'm not here to take sides. Frankly, most of me doesn't know why I'm here, but I do suppose that I am here because I care in a way. I consider you a friend, but do keep in mind, I consider Casey a friend as well. What you've done…you've hurt her a lot, trust me. I know how it feels to be betrayed and at the same time, I know how it feels to lose everything that's important to you, so I can relate to both of you pretty well."

"So what do you suggest that I do?"

"Right now, I'm not sure if there is anything that you can do. I know that isn't going to be what you want to hear, but this type of thing takes time. Casey is hurting and fragile right now, so the very last thing that you want to do is force her into doing anything."

At this, Alex sighs heavily and leans back in her chair. "I'm just so used to getting what I want." She mumbles quietly.

Kim mulls something over in her mind before she tilts her head. "You know, I was talking with Casey once and she brought something to my attention." She begins carefully. "For the longest of times, I had no idea you two knew each other in high school."

"…We did…" Alex admits after a long, drawn out pause, a dark glint of some sort passing briefly through her eyes before it disappears. "I took her to Prom…"

Kim, however, doesn't miss the glint as she simply hums and begins absentmindedly examining her nails. "So I heard…I also heard that you weren't much of a looker in high school." She tries carefully, glancing up briefly to see how flustered the president is suddenly becoming. "I do recall several things being mentioned like, clumsy, nerdy, dork, socially challenged for lack of a better term."

Alex grinds her teeth and bites down hard to keep her emotions in check. "Is there somewhere specifically that you're going with this, Kimberly? Because please, enlighten me if you are."

"From my understanding, before any of this," Kim pauses as she holds up her hands in a circular motion. "You were a completely different person. A person Casey felt like she could trust and relate to. A person she was in love with. See, what you don't understand is that your marriage has been falling apart for months and you have done absolutely nothing to stop it."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how your wife has begged you to spend time with her and she has only gotten empty promises in response. I'm talking about how your kids would ask things of you only for you to completely blow them off like they don't even matter. I'm talking about how you've been neglecting your family and getting away with it."

"I thought you said you weren't here to judge or take sides."

"There's a difference between judging and telling the truth."

Alex groans irritably, mostly because she knows that Kim is right, even though it damn near kills her to admit it. "The entire country knows about what I've done and I don't know how to fix it. I've lost my family and at what cost? What am I supposed to get from this?"

Kim sighs heavily before she shakes her head. "That's the thing Alex. You gotta start thinking about other people for once." She says firmly, albeit softly. "You gotta realize that the world doesn't revolve around you."

**Meanwhile…**

"She's cute. I think you made a rather wise choice to bring her along." Serena states with a self satisfactory smile as she carefully watches the blonde who is scanning the park for potential threats.

"Cute? What does her being cute have to do with-" Abbie pauses in response as a look of realization slowly begins to make its presence known on her face. "Serena…this had absolutely nothing to do with Casey wanting to get out of the house, did it?"

Serena bites the inside of her cheek as she looks away and begins twiddling her thumbs. As much as she would like to deny the truth, she knows that she would get little to nowhere when trying to lie to Abbie. "Uhm…okay, it's not as bad as you think."

"Serena!"

"Well it's not! It was mostly Kim's idea."

Abbie crosses her arms tightly over her chest and raises an eyebrow in skepticism. "Mostly Kim's idea?"

Serena whines after a brief pause and tilts her head back. "Okay fine, it was mostly my idea, but Kim agreed with me. Look, I know it's not what most people would do, but I think it actually has good potential of working. Besides, it's not like Casey has to like her or anything, they just need to look like they're cozy…so Alex will see it."

"So Alex will see it? But how will Alex see it if…" Abbie trails off once again as Serena's plan slowly begins to dawn on her. "You brought me out here knowing full well that the media is going to be all over Casey's whereabouts, not for genuine protection but for protection from too much harassment. You tricked me."

"Are you mad?" Serena asks sincerely as her shoulders slump a little.

"I'm not sure if I should be thoroughly upset or extremely proud right now that you managed to trick me." Abbie responds before she sighs. "Alright, I'll buy into your plan for a little while, but you just gotta make sure to let JJ know what's going on. I did kind of drag her from her post without any real reason for needing her."

"Oh nonsense, she'll be fine. Look, she seems to be getting along with Casey great!"

"Agent Jareau, please feel free to have a seat. I don't think the squirrel in that tree is that much of a treat to me." Casey calls out with a quiet chuckle as she continues to watch the agent stare up into a tree with a small frown playing at her features.

The blonde in question continues to stare up into the tree with a scowl and her lips pursed into a tight thin line. "He threw an acorn at me." she states flatly, looking for the infuriating rodent. She huffs greatly before she spins around and reluctantly makes her way back towards the bench where the first lady is seated. "Would you like for me to find a spot with more shade? I know it's not particularly hot but the sun rays could be daunting nonetheless."

Casey quirks an eyebrow as she is silent for a moment before she shakes her head. "No, I'm quite fine, thank you." she responds, taking a mental note of where her children are before she pants the bench next to her. "Please sit down. You're making me nervous with all of your secret agent work."

"That's my job, Ma'am." JJ replies, perching herself on the edge of the bench.

"Ma'am? That's a little formal, don't you think?"

"My apologies Mrs. Cabot."

Casey winces for a brief moment before she chuckles and shakes her head. "Well I certainly don't wish to be called that at the moment." She murmurs before clearing her throat and halfway forcing a smile. "I'm sure you know what my actual name is; you're more than welcome to use it."

"I'm really not sure how appropriate that is." JJ replies awkwardly, narrowing her eyes behind her reflective sunglasses.

Casey sighs heavily and folds her arms. "It's like you agents go through brainwashing during training." She mutters under her breath before turning to her six year old who approaches her. "Something wrong, Aub?"

"No." Aubrey responds nonchalantly as she bypasses her mother and approaches the strange woman on the bench. "Hi."

"…Hi." JJ responds after a brief pause as she eyes the youngest Cabot with curiosity. She glances at Casey who simply shrugs before turning back to the tiny blonde. "Um…"

"Do you have an eagle too?" Aubrey asks with an innocent tilt of her head.

"I'm sorry?"

"An eagle. The golden one. Abbie has one. Do you have one too?"

JJ's mouth hangs open for an awkward extended period of time before a light bulb clicks on in her head. "Oh I get it." She mutters, pulling something off of her belt before handing it to the six year old. "Is that what you mean?"

Aubrey accepts the agent's badge and runs her fingers over the gold plated material in her hand. A grin slowly spreads across her face before she giggles and returns the eagle to its owner. "You're like Abbie! I like you." she states before turning to her mom. "She's okay."

This time it's Casey's mouth who hangs open as she watches her youngest skip off towards the playground where Charlie and Megan are chatting on the swings. "I…don't really know how to explain what that was about."

"It's alright." JJ responds with a nonchalant shrug. "I suppose I could've handled it better than I did. I'm not particularly used to doing things like this. I usually just do patrol. I don't really know why Abbie decided to bring me here."

"Well it's always good for experience." Casey responds with a genuine smile as she has other thoughts running through her mine. _'And her wife is a conniving little monster'_

Meanwhile, Charlie continues to eye her best friend cautiously. "You don't look so good." She states flatly, a tone that she inherited gradually from both of her mothers.

"I don't feel so good." Megan replies as she rests her head against the chain on the swing and groans.

"You shouldn't be drinking all of that stuff. It's not for kids and it's even bad for adults."

"Where'd you here all of that crap?"

Charlie rolls her eyes and shakes her head before folding her arms. "It's not crap, it's true. We learned it in health at school. They showed us pictures of what your brain looks like after you drink all that stuff for a long time. It's all lumpy and disfigured and gross. Besides, my Ma is gonna be pretty mad when she finds out you went through her stuff."

This time Megan rolls her eyes as she snorts in response. "She's not even gonna know it's…it's missing." She stammers out shakily as the world takes a deep dip. "Charlie, I don't feel so good."

"I told you, you were gonna feel like crap." Charlie responds, frowning when she watches Megan's eyes roll back in her head before she slumps to the ground from the swing. "Megan, c'mon, that's not funny." She says flatly, folding her arms as she thinks this is just another one of Megan's practical jokes.

After few seconds and the blonde doesn't move, Charlotte stands up and begins shaking her best friend. "Megan c'mon, it's…it's n-not funny. C-c'mon, wake up…Megan…!" she exclaims, her eyes widening when Megan is still unresponsive. "MOM!"

Even from across the park, Serena's ears pick up on her daughter calling out to her and she immediately tells that it's a call of distress. As she spins around, her heart sinking when she sees Charlie on the ground, shaking what looks to be an unconscious Megan.

"Oh god…"

**Uh oh…leave your thoughts? **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Chapter update! Enjoy. **

**Flashback **

"Oh god!" Casey screams for probably the hundredth time as her head falls against the pillow in a sweaty heap. Her breaths come out as labored gasps as the pain subsides for only a millisecond before it returns drawing yet another scream of distress from her lips.

"You're doing great, Baby." Alex coaxes rather shakily. In truth she is probably just as nervous as anyone else would be and she is also in a little bit of pain from the death grip that her wife has on her hand. "Just try to hang in there."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Casey barks, her face turning red from the straining of another big push she's just had to give. "Alexandra, I swear to go. If you had a penis I would chop it off right now."

Alex blinks owlishly before a scarlet coat covers her face and she glances nervously at the doctor who also seems to be blushing. "Um, honey, let's keep those kinds of thoughts to ourselves."

Casey's eyes blaze in anger as she glares hard at her wife, her hands tightening her squeeze which in turn results in several bones cracking in Alex's hand from the extent of the heavy pressure. "Don't you dare turn into a smartass right now. Don't. You. Dare. I swear to god, after this I never want you to touch me ever again. I don't even want you to come within five feet of my body. Take a good look because this is the very last time you're ever gonna see it!"

"How much longer, Doctor?" Alex asks exasperatedly, dabbing a cloth against Casey's wet forehead despite the redhead's violent protests to stay away.

"A few more pushes should do it." The doctor responds behind his surgical mask. "Actually, make that a couple. I just need to work the shoulders through. Come on Mrs. Cabot, I need you to push another time."

"No." Casey snaps, flopping back against the pillow as she vigorously shakes her head. "Absolutely not. I'm not giving you anything."

"Mrs. Cabot, please. We're almost done, we just need to work your baby's shoulders through."

Alex practically feels her hand go completely limp as she nearly goes down to one knee due to the sheer amount of pain in her hand upon Casey's next push. Her mouth hangs open in a silent scream, mimicking the verbal one from her wife that is bouncing off the walls of the delivery room. It's a complete shock to all of them, minus Casey, that the windows haven't shattered due to the high pitched nature of her screams.

"Yes! That's it! One more push Mrs. Cabot!"

"I don't have another push left in me! I can't do it. I'll carry this baby with me for the rest of my natural life because I refuse!"

Alex sighs quietly and leans over the bed to drop a gentle kiss to her wife's head. "I know you're scared honey, and I know you're in pain, but this is our baby. We're about to see our baby for the first time, Casey. Aren't you excited?"

Casey blinks rapidly as tears spill from her eyes. "I can't do it, Alex. It hurts too much. I can't do it."

"Yes you can, you know why? Because you're strong and amazing and you can do anything. Just one more push Case, that's all. Just one."

"Fine, just one, but that's it."

Casey takes a much needed deep breath before she pushes harder than she ever did before. The feeling that jolts through her body resembles that of being ripped completely in half from the bottom up and her face turns a dark shade of purple as she strains to give everything she's got into this one push.

The room is filled with the cry of a small infant and Casey slumps against the pillows with a proud look on her face despite her exhaustion. "Is that the baby, Alex?"

"That's the baby, sweetheart. You did it." Alex responds with a wide grin as she leans down and presses her lips against her wife's; medical staff be damned."

"You have a very beautiful baby girl." One of the nurses says kindly as she approaches the couple after having the baby cleaned up.

Casey feels a fresh batch of tears spring to her eyes though these are tears of pure happiness as the nurse places the squirming bundle of pink into her arms. "Oh, Alex, look, she's beautiful. Look at her, she has your eyes and your hair."

"She does." Alex whispers as proud tears stream down her cheeks. She reaches out and gently strokes her thumb across the infant's tender head. "What are we gonna name her, sweetheart?"

"Megan." Casey responds quickly before looking up at her wife with a smile. "I think we should name her Megan."

"After your grandmother." Alex murmurs, dropping another kiss to her wife's head. "I think it's perfect. Megan Elizabeth Cabot…"

Later on into the afternoon, Alex finds herself casually pacing the length of the hospital room as she gently bounces her slumbering daughter in her arms. After thirty two hours of labor, it doesn't surprise her in the slightest that Casey is well past exhausted and it's no doubt that she deserves the rest that she's getting at the moment.

"You don't sleep do you." Alex murmurs quietly, looking down into her own steely blue eyes that are gazing back up at her. She chuckles when Megan simply blinks and yawns in response before she settles on staring back up at her mother. "You haven't made a peep since we laid you in your mother's arms. Listen, I know you probably don't understand a word I'm saying, but I'm really glad you're here. You have no idea how excited Casey and I were when we found out we were having you. You see, we had tried so many times, but they didn't work out so well and then you came along and well…here you are. I'm personally excited that you're here. I've been reading as many parenting books as I can to make sure that I have at least an inkling of an idea of what I'm doing. Truth is, I'm really scared about being a parent. I would never tell Casey this, but I'm scared because I know that it's my responsibility to influence you. I'm worried that somewhere along the way that I'm not going to do my job or that I'm going to end up messing something up somehow. But I guess I just wanted to make this promise to you now. I just want you to know that no matter what happens, that I will always love you unconditionally. You'll always be my little and I will always be proud to be your mother."

"That's very sweet of you." Casey murmurs tiredly from her hospital bed.

Alex spins around, a little startled at first but she quickly relaxes as she sees Casey's tired smile. "Hey, um, I didn't know you were awake. I was just…talking to the baby."

"I see that." Casey responds with a breathy chuckle as she shifts to make herself comfortable in the bed. "I think it's really sweet that you're already bonding with her. It shows that the two of you will have a very strong mother-daughter relationship."

"Yeah." Alex responds, gazing lovingly at the baby before she looks back up at Casey with a giddy grin. "She's very quiet. She hasn't said a word since the nurse placed her in your arms the first time."

"Let's hope she'll stay that way." Casey jokes before she sits up and makes a 'come hither' motion. "Bring her here, I need to feed her."

"Feeding. Right. Would like me to ask the nurse to bring the bottle?"

"Bottle?"

Alex blinks in utter confusion, her mouth opening and closing several times before she tilts her head. "How else are you going to feed her?"

Casey rolls her eyes before taking the infant from her wife's arms. "You know that thing you like so much? Or rather those two things you like so much?"

"…Yes…wait, you're going to breastfeed?!"

"We talked about this Alex…"

"I didn't think you were serious! Casey that…that's weird!"

"Then don't watch."

Alex shudders and spins around, crossing her arms as another shudder ripples down her spine. "Don't worry."

End Flashback

Alex strides down the corridors of the hospital with an aura of authority following not too far behind. She keeps her face a mask of stony ice as she does her best not to address the camera flashes, microphones, and mobs of reporters following in her path. Lucky all of their questions are drowned out by the shouts of her agents to step back.

As she rounds the very last corner, she freezes in her tracks when she spots her wife sobbing on a bench in the arms of a blonde woman that she has never seen before in her life. A flare or anger and jealous flares up in her heart, though she manages to keep a cap on the threateningly dangerous canister. "Casey."

Casey looks up and tries her tears on the Kleenex Agent Jareau had retrieved for her and her eyes blacken in anger when she sees the very person she had no interest in seeing in a very long time. "You have some nerve." She begins venomously as she shoots off of the bench and storms over to the tall blonde with a murderous glint in her eyes as her fists clench tightly. "This is your fault! This is all your fault! I am holding you physically responsible for this!"

"I don't know why I am even here." Alex shoots back before her eyes glance back over to the woman who is now in hushed conversation with Abbie, nodding every few moments or so. "Who is that woman and why did she have her hands on you like that?"

"Like you had your hands all over your whore?!" Casey retorts back, causing an uproar from the press. "Will you get them out of here!?"

Soon, agents begin threatening reports, making arrests to those who don't take their head warning on leaving. Pretty soon, the hospital waiting room is clear of all reporters and the only people that remain are startled guests who have had their afternoon disrupted.

"You always knew how to make a scene." Casey snorts as she shakes her head. "I can't believe you actually had the nerve to show up here because I sure as hell didn't call you. Shouldn't you be back somewhere fucking your little play toy because she clearly means more to you than your family."

"Casey, I am her because Abbie called me saying there was something wrong with Megan. I'm here to see about my child."

"Well she had absolutely no right to call you because Megan is no child of yours. You lost that right as their mother when you decided that there were more important things than your family. You have absolutely no right to be here and I want you gone."

Alex sighs heavily, her face relaxing completely probably for the first time since she's been elected. "I know that I made a horrible mistake, but right now, I don't want to argue with you, right now, I just want to see about my daughter." She explains softly, her eyes pleading with unshed tears. "Please."

Casey sighs heavily and folds her arms as she looks away. "Fine." She relents after a long pause. "But do not use this as any kind of excuse to think that you are forgiven."

"Understood, but Casey…" Alex trails off, taking a deep breath before she continues. "Who is that woman?"

"She is an agent Alex." Casey responds softly, but sharply. "Unlike you, I am faithful to my vows and I would never cheat on you…no matter how much you've broken my heart."

"Mrs. Cabot?" A doctor calls out, slightly taken aback when she is approached by the president, first lady, and two secret service agents. "Um, I have news about your daughter."

"Well get on with it." Both Casey and Alex snap in unison only to scowl when the realize they've done so.

The doctor swallows thickly as she gazes down at her clipboard, nervously tapping her pen against the top. "Um, well, I have every reason to realize that Megan will be fine because we have given her something stabilize her and help her rest, after we've cleaned out her system of course."

"Cleaned out her system?"

"Yes Ma'am, you see, Megan managed to obtain alcohol poisoning due to a severe amount alcohol intake. Normally, how we handle this is not a problem, but due to the fact that she is a minor, I have to ask the both of you, several, um…questions."

Casey sighs heavily and pinches the bridge of her nose while Alex wafts her hand. "Continue Doctor."

"Well, were either of you aware that she was drinking?"

"No, we-well I had no idea." Casey mutters, shaking her head.

"Typically these types of things are act of rebellion from teens in an attempt to cry for help. They are often done in order to fit in or gain attention."

"Gee, I wonder why."

Alex hangs her head, suddenly becoming interested in her shoes. "Thank you doctor. Please allow for my wi-…her mother to go and see her." She murmurs before she turns to Casey, taking the redhead's hand despite her silent protests. She drops something into Casey's palm before spinning on her heel to head back towards the elevator.

Casey purses her lips tightly as she looks down into her hand to find her wedding ring on an elegant gold chain. Her lips part briefly as her head snaps up only to find the blonde already gone. Sighing quietly she makes a last minute decision to loop the chain around her neck, securing the ring underneath her shirt. No matter how much she would like to deny it; she can't fight what her heart wants.

No matter how broken it is.

**I've decided not to drag this out too much. Anyhow, leave your thoughts? **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: This chapter, isn't exactly eventful but it kind of has a shocker of an ending. Hope you all enjoy :)**

"I miss Momma…" Aubrey all but whimpers as she climbs into her red haired mother's lap. She wipes begins rubbing her eyes attempting to keep her tears at bay but it's to no use as they begin forming and rolling down her cheeks.

Casey sighs quietly and places a gentle kiss to her daughter's head before she begins stroking her cheeks, wiping away the tears. "I'm sorry, that you miss her honey." She responds quietly before sighing once again. "I miss her too."

"I want to go home." Aubrey murmurs into Casey's shoulder.

"Home?" Casey echoes, running her fingers through Aubrey's long hair, making a mental note that they should probably get it trimmed soon.

"I wanna go home." Aubrey repeats, pulling away so she can look into her mother's eyes. "With Momma. I like staying with Miss Rena, and Abbie, and Charlie, but I wanna go be with Momma at home. I miss her."

Casey nervously bites down on her bottom lip before she sighs and shakes her head. "We can't go home yet, Aubrey. We need to stay just a little while longer." she explains. It has just been over a week since Megan's incident with the hospital, and Casey would be lying if she said that she wasn't becoming a wreck with each passing day.

Aubrey's lip quivers for a moment before she bursts into to full on sobs, returning to Casey's shoulder as she is soon rocked and soothed. "I want Momma! I wanna go home to Momma! I want Momma!"

"Aubrey please." Casey says with exasperation and exhaustion in her voice. "Please, calm down, Sweetie, it'll be alright."

"No it won't because I won't see Momma ever again!" the youngest Cabot replies, on the verge of a full on fit.

"What's going on in here?" Serena asks gently as she pokes her head into the bedroom, stepping aside long enough for Megan to slip through and join her family on the bed.

"She wants to go home." Casey explains, continuing to wipe her youngest daughter's tears.

At the mention of this, Megan scowls deeply and sends a glare towards her sister. "Aubrey, what's wrong with you; are you stupid? We can't go back there, she doesn't want us there. Why would you want to go back?"

Aubrey pulls away from Casey to round on her sister, as she begins rubbing angrily at her eyes. "No it's not! Momma loves us and you-you need to stop saying bad things about her when Mommy's not around because that's not nice! I want to go home!"

"Well we can't so you're just going to have to learn to deal with it!"

"No! I want to go to Momma!"

"Girls please!" Casey nearly shouts, breaking up the quarrel between her children. "As long as I am here there will be no fighting between the two of you, understand? Serena, can you please give us a minute?"

Serena nods solemnly before sending her friend a small reassuring smile. "Let me know if you need anything." she says gently before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

Casey gently removes Aubrey from her lap before giving her girls a rather pointed look. "Listen, you two will not fight like, do you understand? Now is most definitely not the time for you to be fighting and to be completely honesty, I'm not sure I can take it." She explains before turning to Megan specifically. "I am still highly disappointed in you and do not think that you are off the hook for that little stunt that you've been pulling behind my back. I spoke with Abbie and she recommended a very good friend of hers that's a therapist and you are going to start having sessions with her."

"Mom, no! Therapy!?" Megan explains before throwing her hands up in frustration. "I'm not crazy, I just wanted to see what it was like."

"And you seeing what it was like could have gotten you killed. You are going to start going to those therapy lessons and that is the end of this discussion."

Megan attempts to hold her mother's glare but she cracks under the pressure and she folds her arms tightly as she looks away. "Fine." She mumbles, though there is a small hint of defiance in her voice. "But that doesn't mean I want to go home. I don't want to go back there just to be ignored."

"But I want Momma!" Aubrey exclaims again, hoping that Casey isn't going to give in to Megan's shameless argument. "Mommy, I miss her…"

"Not like she misses you." Megan mumbles rolling her eyes.

"Megan, you are not helping the situation." Casey warns shaking her head before she sighs. "Aubrey, I realize that you want to go home, but right now I'm not sure if it's the best time."

A fresh batch of tears spring to Aubrey's eyes and spill out over her cheeks. "But Mommy, I miss her so much." She whimpers quietly, this time not bothering to wipe her tears. "I want to go home, Mommy. I don't want to run away anymore. I want to go back."

Casey bites down on her bottom lip once again as she begins wondering if this is a sign sent in the form of her six year old that she does need to go back and have a talk with Alex. As much as she would verbally deny it, she can't help the sinking feeling in her chest every time she begins imagining her life without the blonde in it. She knows that she can't exactly run forever and there is going to be a time that she's going to have to stand up and face the problem. She also knows that each moment she spends away from her wife, she's destroying her kids. Aubrey has made it clear of what she wants, and it is clear to Casey that Megan is in desperate need of her mother's attention, no matter how many time she would claim hatred toward the woman.

"Case, there's something you might wanna see." Serena calls from the living room.

When Casey enters the living room with her children in tow, she spots Serena curled up on the couch while Abbie and Charlie make themselves comfortable on the floor in front of the set.

"What's going on?" the redhead asks with a small amount of confusion, her eyes widening when she looks to the screen to find Alex standing on a stage behind the podium sporting the presidential seal with the news headline reading 'Important Presidential Address'. "Oh my god. What is this about?"

"We don't know, it hasn't started yet." Abbie explains, looking up. "But we thought you would want to see it."

"Well you thought wrong." Casey retorts, spinning around only for Serena's voice to call her back.

"Casey, will you at least listen to what she has to say?" Serena sighs, patting the spot on the couch next to her. "It might be something important."

"You underestimate Alex's meaning of importance."

**Meanwhile…**

Alex takes a deep breath to calm her beating heart and nervously rubs her palms together only to realize they're sweating. Swallowing thickly, she winces at the acidic taste in her mouth only for the thick lump to return a few moments later along with the churning in her stomach.

"Ma'am, are you ready?" her advisor asks, noting his clipboard. "It's about time to start."

"Yes, I'm ready." She nods, taking a deep breath as she follows the man out onto the stage. The immediate onslaught of noise and camera flash 'pops' is almost deafening as she stands off to the side, waiting for her advisor to adjust the various microphones on the podium.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States."

Once again the onslaught of noise and flashes is ridiculous as Alex steps up to the podium. She takes a much needed deep breath for confidence as she holds up her hand, patiently waiting for the auditorium to quiet down.

"Um…this, well this isn't a typical presidential address. For once it doesn't have to do with the fundamentals of politics or promises for a better country; it's none of that." she pauses briefly before continuing on. "As I'm sure everyone here knows about the allegations made towards me, and I will not deny the fact that they are true. I…I did have an affair with my assistant and I did cheat on my wife. I cheated on my wife, I cheated on my family, and I am no longer going to try to sneak my way around it. I know that as the president all of you are supposed to look to me to lead you, but the truth is, I'm not perfect. I'm far from it. Ever since I was elected, I have done things that I am not proud of and I will spend the rest of my life taking them back. I have hurt the people that are closet to me in my life and I am honestly standing here wondering if there is even a chance that I am going to get them back. I messed up. I have presented myself in a way that is completely unacceptable and I for that, I must apologize to each and every one of you. How I have acted…it's no way for a president to act, let alone the one that you elected to lead this country and I haven't done my job. But most importantly, I have not done my job as a wife or as a mother. Not too long ago, I made a promise to my youngest daughter that I would take her to feed the ducks at the lake only to break this promise the very same day. I was so caught up with myself that I had completely missed spending time with my family, and I had no idea that my oldest had an interest in playing sports. I neglected spending time with my wife, and I wasn't there for her like I should've been…"

* * *

"Casey this was a bad idea. You should've stayed home." Abbie whispers having to jog behind the redhead to keep up."

"She's confessing on national television in front of the entire country Abbie." Casey responds, spinning around nearly knocking her children over in the process. "The least I could do is be here for her."

Abbie sighs quietly before running a hand through her hair. "I know that, but don't run off from me like that. It's my job to keep you safe and I can't do that with you fifty paces ahead of me."

Alex briefly glances off to the side, her words faltering when she spots her wife in a hushed, heated argument with Abbie. Her mouth hangs open resembling a fish for a brief moment before she and Casey make eye contact, long enough for to subtly nod. Seeing her family slowly wander out onto the stage, she completely forgets about the address as she lowers herself to her knees in front of them.

"Casey, I…I know that I messed up and you have every right to leave me for it." She begins, her voice cracking with emotion. "But I'm begging you, on my knees begging you in front of everyone here to please give me the opportunity to make it up to you. That's all I want. I just want the chance."

Casey purses her lips tightly, pulling Alex to her feet before pulling her close enough so they can share a private conversation. "You want the chance to make it up to me?" she says into the blonde's ear, continuing on once she feels Alex nod shakily. "Then resign."

**Do I sense an ultimatum? Hm….leave your thoughts! **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I am thoroughly pleased that you guys are already enjoying 'Second Chances' and I'm really excited about writing another collaboration. Glad to have you along for the ride! Anyways; Chapter for you. Hope you all enjoy. **

"You want me to resign?" Alex says for probably the fifth time since they entered the limousine before she drags a hand through her hair. "Casey I…"

"No Alex. Listen to what I have to say." Casey says firmly, finally putting her foot down. "I love you; I'm not going to deny that. But this, this job, it's destroyed our marriage and our family. Ever since you were elected you haven't been the same person and trust me when I say that you haven't changed for the better. Our family has completely fallen apart and we've done nothing but watch it happen. I can put all of the blame for this on you because I didn't do my job either. If I hadn't been so wrapped up in my own depression, maybe then I would've noticed Megan's drinking or how upset Aubrey was becoming."

Alex shakes her head as she scoots forward to the edge of her seat and takes her wife's hands in her own. "Casey, you are no way at fault here. Everything that has happened is because of me and I take full responsibility for that. If I had been there for all of you, then this wouldn't have been a problem. This is all my fault, please understand that. But you really want me to resign? Casey I—I can't do that."

Casey purses her lips tightly and shakes her head as she tries to keep her tears at bay. "Then we can't be together."

"Casey don't say that…"

"No, Alex, you're not listening!"

"I am listening but-"

"Not, you're not! You keep saying you're listening but you're not! Don't you get it? The whole reason our marriage is like this is because you're so stressed out all the time. You've changed Alex. We can't be together if you're going to continue to put yourself through this because I can't put the girls and myself through this any longer. It's either you choose the job, or your family."

"Madame President, we've arrived." The chauffer says through the small intercom in the car.

"Thank you." Alex replies, opening the door, motioning for Casey to get out first. "We are the girls?"

"I sent them with Abbie while we have a talk. I didn't want them to hear any of that. They're upset enough as it is. They should be here shortly." Casey explains, following the blonde into the house and through the familiar hallways she used to call home.

Sighing quietly, Alex opens the door to her office, only to freeze a few seconds later when she spots Natalie quietly waiting for her by her desk. In the back of her mind she knew that something like this would happen, but she hadn't anticipated having to face it so soon and to be completely honest; she isn't quite sure that she's ready.

"Alex, why did you…" Casey trails off, locking eyes with the young blonde across the room. "Stop…"

"Ma'am I—I'm sorry, I hadn't realized that you would…I-I shouldn't be here." Natalie stammers, fumbling to gather her things as her hands begin shaking uncontrollably.

Alex sighs once again and folds her arms. "Natalie, it's not that big of a deal. What did you need?"

Swallowing thickly, Natalie finally manages to get herself together as she stands up and hugs her clipboard to her chest. "I-I came to tell you that I believe that I'm going to have to quit. I appreciate the opportunity that you have given me and I learned a lot, but I…" she trails off, hanging her head when she spots Casey still staring at her. "I think that it's best if I take what I learned with me elsewhere."

"Are you sure that you want to do this?"

"Y-yes, Ma'am…No Ma'am. Actually, Ma'am, I'm really not entirely sure, but I feel like it's the right thing to do. I can fill out my letter of resignation and have it in first thing Monday morning."

Pursing her lips tightly, Alex nods in comprehension. "Alright, but I want you to give this more thought." She responds, holding her breath because of the tension in the room.

Before exiting the room, Natalie risks another glance at the angry first lady, sending her a sincere apologetic look. "I'm really sorry." She murmurs quietly, knowing that it can't fix anything before she ducks out of the room.

Casey glances over her shoulder, making sure the door has closed before snapping her gaze back to Alex who is half sitting on her desk with her head in her hands.

"I didn't know that she would be here." The blonde murmurs quietly before looking up. "I wouldn't have brought you here if I knew that she was."

"I think somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that, but right now it's hard to trust you." Casey responds honestly with a quiet sigh. "I don't know how we're going to make this work, Alex. I really don't."

"I want to make this work." Alex says as she approaches Casey and places her hands on her shoulders while her voice begins cracking with emotion. "I can't lose you. I'm not…I'm not strong enough to do this on my own. I know that I messed up, but I can't lose you or the girls…I can't."

Casey bites down on her bottom lip and shakes her head. "Then show me. Show me that you care for someone other than yourself. Do something nice for the kids, do something nice for Serena and Abbie, hell, do something nice for Kim. Do something nice for me. Show me that you are capable of thinking about other people. Spend time with your kids Alex. You're their mother and remember that you were their mother before you were the president. Your family comes first."

Alex sighs quietly before shaking her head once again. "I don't understand what you want me to do Casey. I mean, I know I need to fix things, but I just…I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"Make people happy." Casey whispers as she approaches the blonde and gently cups her face with her hands. "Do something that'll benefit someone else…and then maybe we'll be able to talk about us once you've shown me you've changed."

**Later **

Alex takes a deep breath before she knocks gently on the door and opens it just enough for her to stick her head in. "Hey, um, can I come in?" she asks cautiously, eyeing the teen sitting on the bed seemingly playing on her tablet.

Megan barely glances up before she shrugs her shoulder with a twang of indifference. "Why bother saying no…you were probably just going to come in anyway." she mutters, going back to chatting with her best friend.

Alex glides across the room and perches herself on the edge of the bed before she looks to her daughter once again. "I was hoping that we could have a talk…a real one."

"Why? I don't have anything to say to you."

"Megan please. I just want to talk, and after that, I'll leave you alone."

Megan is silent for a long time before she rolls her eyes and tosses her tablet on her bed. "Fine. You wanted to talk, so talk." She retorts, her voice biting and full of venom.

Alex takes a silent deep breath as she turns so she is facing the younger blonde. "Megan, I know that I haven't been there for you enough."

"You haven't been there for me at all."

"…I know that I haven't been there for you like I should have been, and for that, I can't apologize enough for that. I—I failed you as a mother and I promise that I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you." Alex explains, pausing to chuckle sadly as she averts her gaze elsewhere. "You know, before you were born, I was terrified of being a parent, but your mother wanted us to start a family so badly, I couldn't deny her anything. I think I was more terrified after you were born than I was before because it fully hit me for the first time that I was responsible for a little life that wasn't my own and believe it or not, that scared me a lot. The day you were born, I held you in my arms and I promised you that even when I messed up in the future, that I would never stop loving you."

"Then why did you?" Megan asks, her voice small and broken for the first time she's spoken to Alex in months. "Why did you hurt us like that? Why did you hurt me?"

"Honestly? I don't know why I did what I did. Maybe it's because I was being a selfish idiot…or maybe it's because I knew that something was wrong all along, but I was too much of a coward to try to step up and fix it" Alex explains in response, shaking her head. "Megan what you fail to understand is that I wasn't always like this. I wasn't always this ruthless, selfish, arrogant…I wasn't like this. But I was tired of being put down and having people just walk all over me like they did. I felt like I needed to change, because I was sick of just beings someone's placemat whenever they needed to get somewhere and I guess somewhere along the way I forgot who I am. That girl I just described to you, she was so used to just running away from her problems and not standing up for herself and I guess that she's still in here somewhere. Megan, listen, I…I never stopped loving you, or your sister, or your mother, and it kills me to realize that I led all of you to believe otherwise. I know that a simple sorry isn't going to fix it, but I just wanted to let you know that I am going to do everything within my power to make things right again."

Megan is silent for a long time before she brings her knees to her chest. "I saw what you said on television…did you really mean all of those things you said?"

"I've never anything more in my entire life."

"Why did you do that? Why did you get on TV and tell everyone what you did?"

"Because I wanted everyone to realize that I'm not perfect. I wanted everyone to know that I wasn't going to run away from my problems anymore. Most importantly I wanted you, your mom and Aubrey to see it. I wanted all of you to know that I will do whatever it takes to fix this because I love you. All of you. I don't expect you to trust me right away, but I just hope that you will give me a chance."

Megan sighs quietly before she hangs her head in what appears to be shame. "Ma, I…the drinking. I didn't mean to let it get so far. I was just so mad at you and I just wanted to see what it was like. I didn't mean to take so much of it."

Alex reaches over, allowing for her shaky hand to wipe away her daughter's tears. "When I got the call that said you were in the hospital, it was easily one of the scariest moments of my life, because I didn't know what had happened or if you were okay."

Without saying a word, Megan lunges forward and wraps her arms tightly around her mother's waist, all the while sobbing inaudible streams of apologies into her shoulder. As much as she would like to deny it, she can't hide the fact that she missed her mother just as much as her little sister did.

Alex hugs her daughter close to her, gently running her fingers through her silky blonde hair before she places a soft kiss to the side of her head. Her own tears spring to her eyes as she hopes that she has just taken the first of many steps to putting her family back together.

**As you can see, I'm attempting to bring this story to a close because it hasn't become a priority of mine and I would like to finish some things because I do have several ideas floating around in my head, but alas, the damn writer's block bug has struck again :/ anyway, leave your thoughts! **


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I should NOT be writing right now, but I couldn't help it. My writing helps with my nerves and with work tomorrow, there are definitely nerves. **

**Cuteness ahead, enjoy! **

"Honey, what are we doing?" Casey asks as she follows her wife out of the helicopter. All in all she is completely thrilled that they have come back to Camp David for another try at spending time as a family, but with her significant other's vagueness on the situation at hand, she just can't help but be a little skeptical.

Alex briefly glances behind her and grins before she scoops a giggling Aubrey into her arms and places her on her shoulders. "Relax, it'll be fun." she confirms before looking up at the excited little one above her. "Won't it Aub?"

"Yes!" Aubrey squeals in excitement as they make their way towards the lodge. "Where are we going Momma?"

"It's a surprise." The elder blonde responds with a grin.

Meanwhile, Megan can't help but sigh heavily and roll her eyes as she slings her backpack over her shoulder. "You know, I am all for trying to get Ma back to the way she used to be, but I really don't see how coming back here will do that." she mumbles. "I know we said we wanted her to change, but is this really what we meant?"

Though she would like to agree with her oldest daughter, Casey wouldn't dare say it out loud. "Honey, your mother is just trying to fix things. I know that it's not just going to happen overnight and everything that has happened isn't just going to go away just because we want it to. It's going to be a process that takes a lot of time and a process that takes a lot of patience. Right now, all we can do is just go with it. At least she's spending time with you like you wanted."

Opening her mouth to argue, Megan's argument dies on her lips with a heavy sigh. "Fine." She mumbles with another eye roll only for her eyebrows to raise when she sees her mother and sister disappear around the lodge. "Where is she going?"

"No idea." Casey responds with a slightly amused smile as she shakes her head and follows in her wife's tracks. Once in the large yard behind the lodge, she tilts her head in confusion with that same smirk playing at her lips with she spies Alex and Aubrey engaged in an impromptu game of tag. "Honey, what are we doing?"

"We," Alex begins as she points to the backpack she was formerly carrying. "Are going camping."

"Camping?" Casey and Megan echo in response with similar looks of surprise, though Megan's may be considered to be a little more distasteful than her mom's.

"Yay camping!" Aubrey exclaims with excitement as she begins to jump up and down and clap her hands.

"Alex…" Casey begins with a chuckle as she shakes her head. Finally now it all makes sense; the things that she was told to pack that is. Sure at first she thought it was just a tad bit strange, but now everything makes. "Alex, why are we out here?"

Shrugging, Alex picks up the bags she had Aubrey carrying before she splays them out on the ground, revealing them to be two moderately sized tents. "I figured that it would be good for us to spend time together. You know, we're away from the house, away from my job, and all the people I deal with everyday. I figured that this would be better than just a forced dinner surrounded by the cooking staff or a sad evening on the south lawn where I could be called in at any moment. At least here we get a little peace and quiet."

"Yeah, but why camping?" Megan interjects as she nudges one of the tents with her toe. "Of all the things you could've come up with, you chose camping?"

"It'll be fun. We'll treat it like it really is the great outdoors." Alex explains with a grin as she holds up her hands to their surroundings. "Everything we could ever need is right out here; including the bathroom. I've even packed toilet paper."

Making a face that is a cross between a grimace and a scowl, Casey shakes her head as she approaches the taller woman and gives her a light peck on the cheek. "Honey, I think that this is a fabulous idea and I applaud you for coming up with it, but if I need to use the bathroom, you better believe that I'm going inside."

Chuckling, Alex wraps an arm around Casey's waist and pulls her close. "Well, I guess I will allow everyone a free pass when it comes to the bathroom." She relents, pressing a gentle kiss to the side of her wife's head. "So first things first; let's set up the tents."

"Uh, we got a problem." Megan points out with her hands on her hips. "There are only two tents here."

"Yes, one for your mother and I, and then one for your sister." Alex explains as if it's the most simple thing in the world.

The teen's mouth falls open as she glances from her sister, to the tent, back to her sister, and then to her parents. "What?! NO! There is no way that I am sharing a living space with that little brat." She snaps.

"Well you can always sleep out in the open." Casey supplies with a nonchalant shrug, deeming it to be a completely viable option.

Realizing her defeat, Megan sighs heavily as she picks up one of the tent bags and begins dragging it over to a spot in the large yard all the while mumbling under her breath about never getting any private.

Shaking her head at her children, Casey can't help but laugh as she and Alex drop to the ground as they set about putting up their sleep sanctuary for later. "Have you ever put together a tent before?" she asks skeptically as she begins digging around for any sort of direction.

"Nope." Alex responds with a shake of her head as she pulls out the instructions and begins to look them over. "I remember that I always wanted to go camping when I was a little kid. Before he left, my dad had always promised he would take me but he just never got around to it."

"Have you spoken to your mother?" Casey asks quietly, glancing over at her children arguing over something or other and she realizes they are too preoccupied to be eavesdropping on her conversation.

A look of some sort passes over Alex's face and she remains silent for a long time before she shakes her head. "No." she murmurs quietly. "I mean, not that we have anything to say to each other or anything."

Casey bites the inside of her cheek before reaches over and gently places a hand over her wife's stilling all of the other woman's movements. "She's called, Alex."

Stilling once again, Alex shakes her head once more as she continues pulling the rest of the tent from its carrier. "No she hasn't."

"Yes she has, Alex. And I say that because she has called me." Casey responds gently. "She's worried about you, Alex. She wants to talk."

"Can we just, not do this now?" Alex retorts with exasperation clearly evident in her voice. "I just…I just want for us to spend time together as a family, like you said. That's all I want right now. I don't want to worry about anything else."

Keeping silent, Casey nods her head in silent agreement. After a moment of silence, she crawls forward before pressing her lips lightly against the blonde's, taking her a little off guard. Pulling away, she gives her wife a reassuring smile before she looks down at the mess amongst them. "So…shall we get started?"

Approximately an hour and a half later, the family is gathered around a small and safely moderated fire set up in the midst of their 'campsite'.

"I can't believe it took the both of you that long to put up the tent." Megan snickers at her parents' expense as she continues to roast her hot dog in the fire.

Rolling her eyes, Casey sticks at her tongue before snuggling into her wife's side. "You know what, it was a lot harder than it looked, okay?"

"Didn't you read the 'structions?" Aubrey asks innocently, looking up from where she was nibbling on her dinner.

"The instructions were in French." Alex responds, hoping to justify their reasoning as she has yet to figure out how her thirteen year old and her six year old were able to make sense of foreign directions.

A smirk tugs at the corner of Megan's lips as she looks up from the fire. "The English ones were on the back."

"What…" Casey deadpans while Alex groans and face palms.

"I can't believe it. A former prosecutor and the President of the United States and neither of them can figure out to flip over a sheet of paper." Megan mumbles only loud enough for her sister to hear which causes the younger blonde to erupt into a fit of giggles.

Knowing she said something smart, Alex smirks as she hits Megan's hot dog with her stick, knocking the roasting weenie into the fire. "You were saying, sweetheart?"

Rolling her eyes, Megan tries to hide the smile on her face as she pulls another hot dog from the package and begins the roasting process once again. Though she isn't quite ready to admit it out loud yet, but she's having fun spending time with her parents and even her little sister; regardless of the unorthodox circumstances.

After dinner, Alex finds herself laying on her back in the grass as she stares up at the stars. She feels her wife snuggle into her and rest her chin on her shoulder as she can feel the redhead's warm breath on her neck.

"You did good you know." Casey murmurs quietly, wrapping an arm around her wife's waist where Alex interlaces their fingers.

"What do you mean?" Alex responds as she looks down with her brow furrowed into a small amount of confusion.

"I mean this." Casey begins. "All of this. You planned it and put it into action. You got us all out here and here we are laughing and spending time together like a real family. You've finally stepped up. I'm proud of you."

Alex grins and accepts the kiss to the lips before a sad look crosses her features. "Casey I-…about what happened with Natalie...I'm not going to make excuses for what I did because I honestly don't even know why I did it. But I do know that I never did it to hurt you intentionally."

A small smile tugs at Casey's lips as she leans up and kisses her wife once more, full and deep. "I know. We all make mistakes." She murmurs, gently stroking Alex's cheek with her fingers. "I don't expect you to be perfect, Honey. And I think because you try to be, that's where you mess up. I also think that you've got some things that you need to deal with; Things that don't have anything to do with me or the kids. But you can only deal with them when you're ready."

Nodding her head, Alex pulls her wife even closer as she wraps both arms around her. "Maggie spoke to me not too long ago. She's thinking about resigning."

Casey looks up as quickly as her eyebrows raise in surprise. "That…that's completely unexpected and I honestly don't know what to say. How long ago was this?"

"Maybe about a week?" Alex calculates with a small shrug. "She says that she wants devote her life to spending time with her kids and grandkids. I don't blame her. I think what she's doing is exceptional, I'll just miss her. She was a good running mate and an even better VP."

"You think Kim's ready to step up?"

"She's gonna have to be. If Maggie resigns the job is hers whether she likes it or not."

"It'll all fall into place." Casey hums as she rests her head on Alex's shoulder once again, simply enjoying the peace and quiet alone time she gets to spend with her wife.

"I'm glad they aren't fighting." Aubrey points out from where she and her sister are watching their parents from across the yard where their own tent is situated.

"Me too." Megan replies with a nod.

"Do you still hate, Momma?" Aubrey asks innocently after a small but lax silence.

Megan is silent for a long time before she shakes her head. "I don't think I ever hated her." She whispers more to herself than her sister. "I was just mad that she wasn't paying attention to me."

"She loves us." Aubrey whispers as she barely manages to suppress a yawn. "She wouldn't hate us…ever. She promised."

"Yeah. When we were babies." Megan replies with a nod before running her hand through her sister's hair, chuckling quietly at how sleepy the younger girl has become. "Come on, we should get you to bed before one of them comes over here. You know how it is at home."

"Mhm." Aubrey hums quietly as she crawls into the tent with her sister following close behind. Crawling into her sleeping bag, she clutches her stuffed rabbit to her chest before yawning once again. "Night Megan…"

"Night Aubrey."

Around twelve midnight, or what Alex assumes to be twelve midnight, Alex awaits to feint thundering in the distance and the tell tale patter of rain against the outside of the well housing tent. Shifting quietly, she pulls Casey further into her arms and prepares to drift off to sleep. Just as she is almost asleep, there is a small zipping sound, and she looks up just in time to see two little faces on the outside of the tent peaking in. "Girls…?"

"The storm scared us." Megan admits as she and her sister duck their heads in from the rain.

"C'mon." Alex murmurs, still half asleep as she just barely manages a 'come hither' motion.

The two girls slip into the tent, zipping it behind them as it suddenly becomes crowed. While Megan settles in next to a now snoring Alex, Aubrey crawls over Casey, accidentally kneeing her in the abdomen which causes the redhead to awake with a start. A small frown creases her brow and she opens her eyes just enough to see a tiny blonde head tucking itself under her chin while it's owner pull her arm over their tiny body. A tiny chuckle escapes Casey's lips before she immediately drifts off to sleep.

**Not sure how much further I wanna go with this but I know it's not too much. Anyway, leave your feedback. **


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